Let's Pretend
by yellowest
Summary: In which Austin asks Ally to be his pretend girlfriend for a week and she can't help but say yes - AU. Multi-chapter. Austin/Ally.
1. Chapter 1

_**I don't own anything you may happen to recognise. This is my first multi-chapter story so pretty please be nice :)**_

 _ **Hopefully you enjoy it :)**_

They're in Sonic Boom, closing up shop when he asks her. Well, more accurately, _she's_ closing up shop while _he_ watches her and sits on the counter swinging his legs like a five-year-old, but whatever. She freezes immediately, but isn't sure she's heard him properly at first. Soon enough though, the words and the full extent of his meaning process in her brain.

"You want me to _what_?" Ally practically yells at the shaggy haired, brown-eyed boy staring sheepishly up at her.

"Come on, please? It'll only be for the week, but ever since Piper and I broke up my parents have been non-stop asking me how I am, whether I've moved on, how everything's going and-" He cuts himself off and sighs. "Basically, I'm dying."

"Austin, this would have to be the worst idea in the history of the universe. And that's including the time when Jim Jones thought it would be a good idea to spike the Kool-Aid with _cyanide_ and the invention of fake pockets."

He's majorly confused by her historical reference and has to resist a chuckle at her fake pockets comment, but he powers through like a trooper. She _has_ to do this for him.

"When who did what? Look, please?"

"Why can't you ask someone else?"

He gives her a rueful smirk. "Well, my Mum already loves you, and she's pretty much been wanting us to get together since she met you. Plus, it'll be more believable since we're best friends and you're the only person who I honestly think I could get through this with."

"Austin, I'm flattered, really, but you haven't thought this through at _all_. You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend. In front of your parents. And the rest of your family. All of whom know you incredibly well. To even make it slightly believable there'd have to be some incredible acting involved–"

"Which you could totally handle because you're an amazing actress."

She rolls her eyes and doesn't acknowledge his compliment or the accompanying wink. She sighs, exasperated. "No, not totally. This is different, it's easy to put on someone else and just be them, feelings, motivations and love interests all included but to have to be myself but pretending to be in love with someone else is crazy. This isn't some movie or romantic comedy where these things all work out perfectly. What if someone found out? Your parents would be crushed that you lied to them, they'd hate me for the rest of eternity and everything would be ruined."

"No one will find out, I promise. It's only one week, and I know you've always wanted to go to the country. Please, Ally? I need you." He gives her those damn puppy dog eyes and she feels herself melting at those three magic words. But she can't. She looks at him and finally gives voice to her biggest fear.

"Austin." She sighs. _Suck it up, Ally. Just tell him._ "What if we end up not even being able to stand each other anymore?"

He softens and stands up so that he's face-to-face (or more like face-to-chest) with her. "Come on." He tilts her face to his with two fingers under her chin. "This is us we're talking about. It'll all be fine." He lets go of her and pauses, watching as she bites her lip. After she doesn't say anything else, he tentatively asks her: "So, is that a yes?"

"I'm going to hate myself and regret every second of it, but I guess so. When is this fantastic getaway?"

"We leave in two days."

"We _what?_ Oh my God, you're the _worst_. Two days? And you left it until tonight? Of course you did. How am I even going to pack, or get them a thank you present- have you even asked them if it's alright if I come?" She rambles on, while he watches a strange combination of both amused and semi-terrified.

"Would you calm down? You have plenty of time to pack, it's only a week for Christ's sake, and we'll grab something tomorrow as a present if you really think it's necessary, which, for the record, it isn't."

"So, have you asked them?"

He scratches at his hairline on the back of his neck. "Asked them what?"

Ally narrows her eyes, and stalks forward, poking him in the chest at every step. "Don't play dumb with me, you blonde-haired bastard. Have you asked if I can stay?"

"Well, see, it's kind of a funny story actually-"

She glares him down and he sucks in a breath, taking a step back from her as he does and peeking at her from behind his excessively large hands.

He sucks in a huge breath and gets it out in one go. "I kind of told them we'd been dating for a month but keeping it secret and told them you were coming a month ago." _Exhale_ _, Austin. Whew. That wasn't so bad. See, all out in the open-_

"A month ago?" She blinks as she processes what he's said, her voice rising in anger as she realizes the full extent of what he's telling her. "You're telling me your parents think we've been dating for two months, and that you lied to them about me for a full month before even asking me about it?"

"Um… yes?"

She gives a scream of frustration and storms from the room.

"So, we're still a go for Monday?"

A door slam is his answer.

* * *

The next two days fly by: somehow Ally manages to pack what has to be a year's supply of clothes and books into a suitcase, while he makes do with a duffle, muffins are made, chocolates and other presents bought, arguments had, flights flown and before they know it they're standing in front of the Moon's holiday home in country Texas.

Ally takes a deep breath.

Austin looks at her and takes her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

She looks up at him.

He winks at her.

They knock together and try for a nonchalant-totally-in-love-dating-for-two-months kind of vibe.

And the smiling face of Mimi Moon appears in front of them.

"There you two are! Sweetheart, how are you?" She bundles Austin into a hug before turning to his companion. "And Ally, sweetheart, always a pleasure. How are you, darling?Come in, come in, it's freezing cold out here."

"Thankyou so much for having me, Mrs Moon. I brought muffins?"

Austin rolls his eyes at her unnecessary thankyou gift, and scoffs at her. She gives him a backhanded whack to the stomach, which he dodges, and he gives her a wicked grin, placing two fingers under her chin and tilting her head up towards his. He's beginning to lean in is about to close the gap when she places her fingers on his lips and pushes him away from her with a good-natured roll of her eyes. Mimi watches the two delightedly, before reminding Ally to call her Mimi, taking the muffins from the young girl's grasp and ushering the two inside.

 ** _I would love a review, pretty please with a cherry on top :)_**

 ** _Have a fantastic day. So much love :)_**


	2. Chapter 2

_**So here's Chapter Two for y'all. Hopefully you're enjoying it! I still obviously don't own anything and all that jazz.**_

 _ **And without further ado, here you are!**_

She can't comprehend how she got into this position. And yet, here she is, in country Texas, pretending to be her best friend's girlfriend. Well, it'll be an experience, that's for sure. They somehow managed to make their way through the beginning pleasantries with the family and had been ushered into a bedroom to 'get themselves settled' before the door was closed on them with a meaningful wink, leaving a very flustered Austin and a bright red Ally. They were in a gorgeous room: Austin's family were "well off" as he so subtly put it, and the two were currently engaged in a stand-off regarding the double bed in front of them.

Ally looks at Austin.

Austin looks at Ally.

They both turn their heads to look at the sight in front of them.

Ally takes her hands off her hips and wanders to the side of the bed, where she leisurely takes off her shoes and lies down, stretching out as far as she can over the bed (still not managing to actually reach from one end to another, despite her best attempts) while a surprised and slightly amused Austin watches her. She sighs contentedly and looks innocently up at him.

"So where are you sleeping then?"

He purses his lips and glares slightly at the petite brunette in front of him.

"I think the real question here is where _you'll_ be sleeping."

"But Austin…" She bats her eyelashes and turns onto her stomach to look at him properly. "You wouldn't make your _girlfriend_ sleep on the floor would you?"

He rolls his eyes at her, still standing at the foot of the bed.

He takes off his shoes and walks around to sit on the bed, waiting for her to make a bit more space for him to stretch out his substantially bigger body.

Ally doesn't move an inch.

Austin sighs and pokes her side, eliciting a giggle from the girl, but she staunchly refuses to relinquish the bed.

"Nmph!"

The wind is knocked out of her as a _heavy_ body carelessly plonks itself down on top of her and she can't help but let out a breathless laugh as Austin lies on top of her, moving around in his attempts to get more comfortable. Eventually, he stops and it's his turn to let out a contented sigh.

"Mmm. Aren't you so comfortable Ally? Couldn't you just stay like this for _ever_?"

"For sure. The bed is _so_ comfortable," is her breathless response.

He lets out an annoyed sigh and positively whines at her: "Allyyy."

When that doesn't seem to work he raises himself off her and into a sitting position, looking down at her seriously.

"I didn't want to do this, Ally, but you leave me no choice."

And with that, begins a ruthless tickle war which ends only with Mimi's entering to find them (though fully clothed), in an _unexpected_ position, with Ally straddling Austin, the covers of the bed an absolute mess and both breathless and red faced. Ally freezes at the sound of the door opening and can only watch as Austin's mother pokes in her head, looks at them blankly, realizes what she's walked in on (well, not _actually_ walked in on) and hurriedly closes the door with a hasty "Sorry!".

Ally covers her face with her hands and climbs off Austin, lying herself down beside him instead.

"Oh my God. Please tell me that I hallucinated that?"

Austin can't quite focus properly because all he can think about is how Ally has curled into his side in her embarrassment and seems to fit there like a missing puzzle piece, and how she smells like strawberries and vanilla.

"Um… Uh. Y-yeah."

He can't believe that he's never noticed just how adorable his songwriting best friend is. And he also can't believe the kind of trouble he's in that he's asked _her,_ of all people, to pretend to be his girlfriend for a week. But with her hair all a mess from their tickle war, and after watching her giggle and smile toothily at him he's beginning to realize that, actually and quite surprisingly, Ally is an _attractive_ girl. And it seems to have crept up on him all of a sudden.

 _It's okay. Just don't think about it. It'll all be fine. Just pull yourself together, Austin, goddamnit._

He takes a shaky breath and avoids Ally's confused stare in response to his less than satisfactory answer.

"It's fine. It's good actually. For one, she'll knock from now on and two, that's an awesome step in making her believe we're for real dating."

"Ugh, but still." Ally looks up at him and he can tell that she's seriously embarrassed. He reassures her the best that he can.

"Don't worry about it. She's not going to talk about it and you won't hear about it again, I promise."

"The things I do for you Austin Moon."

"Thank you, Ally Dawson."

"Speaking of fake dating, we should chat."

He knows this means business and sits himself up. Ally follows suit, so that they're facing each other, cross-legged, on the bed.

"I've never actually paid attention to what you're like when you have a girlfriend," Ally begins.

Austin remains silent, so she continues, hoping he'll understand what she means.

"So, to prepare me a little, it might be a good idea if you told me whether you're going to be acting, you know, distanced and cool, or protective and overly affectionate, or whatever so that I'm not just flailing around and confused as hell?"

"Right. Good thinking. Okay, well… Okay I guess I'm a bit protective? And I'm crazily affectionate and have no boundaries in terms of being around my parents, so sorry about that one. PDA coming your way. Hey, that rhymed!" He's pulled back on track with a glare from the girl opposite him. "Anyway," he clears his throat and looks at her anxiously. "I think apart from that I'm pretty much, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm pretty much the way that I am around you, you know?"

He's looking at her intently as he waits for her to respond.

"No, I get it. I'm pretty much the same as I am around you as well, except maybe a bit amped up on the teasing. I'm not overly into PDA so I won't probably shove you off me but I'll be embarrassed and all that, and I'm a bit more affectionate as well, but sort of in a more innocent way than you I'm guessing."

He smirks at her. "So should we give her a test drive?"

"I'm sorry?"  
"You know. Test out the whole kissing thing before we present it to the rest of the world?"

She narrows her eyes and shoves him as hard as she can. He falls off the bed and looks up at her, the picture of sexy, messy surprise.

She looks back up at him, giving him her best innocent face.

"I don't think that'll be necessary, _babe_."

 ** _Beginnings of some sparks and PDA shall come next chapter, I promise._**

 ** _Reviews would be absolutely stellar and would leave me positively thrilled._**

 ** _Have a wonderful day, all the love. :)_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey friends! Here's Chapter Three.**_

 _ **Sorry it took me a little while, but hopefully it was worth the wait. Obviously I own nothing, and hopefully you like it!**_

"I'm sorry, what?" Ally asks, hoping desperately that she's misheard the older boy's request.

"Don't be shy. We just want to see a little peck! By this point usually, we've witnessed way more PDA. Come on you two!" Austin's brother taunts.

Austin looks at Ally.

Ally looks at Austin.

They both gulp.

* * *

The rest of the day had gone swimmingly, in Ally's opinion. They'd recovered from the pillow fight embarrassment and the Moons had taken Austin and Ally into town and had given Ally a small tour. She'd oohed and ahhed in all the right places and it'd actually not been too bad. She'd amped up her regular teasing and apart from some slightly sweaty hand holding, wrapping of arms around waists and shoulders and a few innocent pecks on the cheek in response to Austin's 'jealousy' it had all been exactly what they were used to. The two had actually been feeling quite at home.

Things only got better from there when Austin was allowed to take Ally to look at the horses. Just the two of them in the endless green of the Moon's estate. The neighing of the horses and just Austin and Ally, being themselves. But, it had started Ally's mind ticking. There was this one moment, it was probably nothing, but it had started butterflies in her stomach – the kind that she had gotten from hanging around Dallas, butterflies that had never made an appearance around Austin before.

They'd been lying on the grass, Austin humoring her in her favorite pastime – _cloud watching_. There was a slight breeze, just enough to keep them from baking in the hot Texan sun. Austin had been semi-coaching her all day about how to be his girlfriend and he'd just finished giving her some more pointers, all seemingly related to more kissing and more than the G rated actions she was more used to. She didn't really have a whole lot of experience in this field. There'd been Dallas, and they'd had a little fling, but that was months ago, and Ally was more than a little worried that her kissing skills would be a little… rusty.

"Austin."

"Ally."

She sighed and turned onto her side to look at him properly.

"No really. I have something to tell you."

He turned too, their faces only inches apart, in fact, she could lean over right now and just –

 _Woah._

 _No, Ally._

 _Stop that._

She pulled her mind back to the task at hand and took a deep breath.

"Okay. It'sjustthatIhaven'treallykissedanyoneinawhile."

"What?"

She blinked worriedly and steeled herself, closing her eyes and rolling back onto her back, refusing to look at him.

"It's just that I haven't really kissed anyone in a while."

There was a short pause.

"Like, how long?"

"Since Dallas."

She heard the sound of Austin exhaling.

"Woah. Ally that was -. That's probably actually not really what you need to hear. Don't worry about it. You'll be fine. It's like riding a bike."

"But what if it's not? What if I'm terrible and your family know, and then they kick us out and we're in the middle of Texas, just stranded with nowhere to go-"

She was silenced by two fingers placed gently onto her lips, and all of a sudden Austin's face was hovering over hers.

"Ally. Calm down. It's all going fine. You're doing great. You're actually getting closer."

"So are you."

His eyebrows pulled together in confusion before he noticed the wry smile on the brunette's face and a small smile came onto his face.

"Haha. I meant with your acting – to being more realistic."

"Well thanks."

He was still hovering above her. Ally was finding it a little hard to breathe.

 _Wait, what?_

 _That's not supposed to happen. Keep it together, Dawson._

"Hey. Thanks."

She was pulled back into the present by Austin's comment and she couldn't help but smile as he bit his delicious looking lip, looking sweet and shy and generally edible. She really needed to get a grip. But he was making it so difficult, biting his lip in that tantalizing fashion.

And maybe because of his position, or maybe because he'd noticed her looking at his lips, all of a sudden Austin found himself glancing down at the brunette's perfect pink lips, and leaning down ever so slightly. He watched as her eyes fluttered shut. He gulped and pushed himself away from her, clearing his throat as he did so.

"We should probably get back, start getting ready for dinner and everything."

She sat up abruptly, clearing her throat as well and willing the blush to fade from her cheeks and the butterflies to fade from her stomach.

"Yeah, uh, defin- um. Yeah."

* * *

All of a sudden they'd found themselves at a fancy dinner. Both of them were trying their hardest to keep their thoughts strictly friendly – Austin's shock of blond hair and fair skin only looked better in his white shirt and black tie and Ally was trying her hardest to keep from imagining ripping it off him, while she was in a figure hugging black and white dress with bright red lipstick that was making Austin want to roam his hands all over her and discover what that particular brand of lipstick tasted like.

Everything had been going pretty well: a little handholding, cheek kissing, some giggling and teasing and all well within Ally's comfort zone.

Until.

Until, Austin had placed his hand on Ally's thigh. Admittedly, it was near her knee and as hand placement goes, was really pretty innocent but it still managed to have an embarrassingly large effect. Ally was struggling to maintain her composure because all of a sudden her stomach was the global capital for butterflies and she was oh so aware of any slight muscle movements that he made with his hand. Which was, all in all, making things a little difficult, particularly since she'd previously been involved in a conversation and was now finding it a little difficult to form words, while Austin just smirked and drew patterns just above her knee.

And probably because of her sudden withdrawal from the conversation, everyone had noticed, particularly Austin's older brother Jace (now Ally's least favourite person), who had decided to make the couple as uncomfortable as possible, by suggesting they kiss.

Austin's hand had completely stilled and was beginning to sweat a little as he answered for the two of them.

"Oh, that's okay, we already did. Kiss, I mean." He replied, trying for nonchalance and failing fantastically.

"Okay, who are you, and what have you done with the real Austin. Come on, man. It's only us. Just give us a little something – you've been dating for two months by now anyway, what's the big deal?"

Austin was the picture of flustered. He glanced at Ally for back up before turning back to his older brother.

Ally steeled herself. She took a deep breath. She could do this. She leaned in and turned Austin's head toward hers, capturing his lips in a sweet kiss.

All of a sudden he felt Ally's lips on his. His eyes widened and he froze, but he was just beginning to close his eyes and relax when he felt Ally begin to pull away. Oh no, she wasn't getting away with a milli-second long kiss. _Hell_ no. He put one hand to her waist and pulled her a little towards him, without pulling her off her dining table chair, while his other hand came up to her neck, just letting her know that they weren't quite done. Their lips moved in perfect synchronicity and Austin had just enough time to wonder how Ally could possibly have been worried about being rusty, and to decide he was, in fact, a fan of that particular brand of lipstick, when it was over. The two looked at each other in astonishment for a second before pulling away from each other, each turning back to the table to take a sip of water and Ally fixing her lipstick. After a round of applause and some smirking from around the table, the conversation returned to normal and the two teens were left to wonder what the _hell_ had just happened.

 _ **Reviews would make me incredibly happy I would be greatly indebted. I shall try my hardest not to leave my next update for as long.**_

 _ **Have a wonderful day, all the love. :)**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey all! I'm so so sorry that I've been absent for so long, things have just been a little crazy lately. I shall attempt to get back to updating every week though so that you guys aren't like left in suspense for too long and what not.**_

 _ **Anyways, obviously I own nothing, I'm just borrowing the characters and all. Hopefully you enjoy!**_

"Austin, could I maybe borrow you for a second?" Ally asked, in a tone that completely contradicted the sweet vulnerability of her question.

Austin gulped and stood, following the brunette to her place of choice, away from the table.

"So, Ally. What's up?" He was going for the nonchalant vibe, and didn't quite pull it off, instead giving off more of a wet and frazzled drowning cat vibe.

"What's up? Well, I just thought that maybe we should talk about our first kiss. Call me crazy." She quipped, her every word dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, right. That." He scratched his neck awkwardly. He was suddenly having flashbacks to asking Ally to do this in the first place with him, her looking up at him and asking what would happen if they couldn't stand each other anymore. And while he hadn't even given much thought to an idea so preposterous at the time, all of a sudden it wasn't so… well, preposterous. He was stuck pretending to be in love with his very, _very_ attractive songwriting partner/best friend. Whom he knew very well and had he been, you know, _sexually_ attracted to her before now, he almost certainly would have asked out.

But maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. He should just think of it as a trial run. Getting to test what they'd be like as a couple, and it probably wouldn't work out so then they'd be able to go back to being friends, both glad that they'd gotten it out of their system without completely jeopardizing their friendship.

 _Go, Austin. You are the man._

A little self-validation never hurt any body.

"So… Okay so I know that neither of us really want to talk about it, but I think we need to just you know, cool off or whatever, because we both know tonight's karaoke night, and it would be super weird for us to blow it off, and it would be super obvious if we were super weird for the rest of the night around each other, so I just-" Ally was rambling. Who would have guessed.

"Ally. We're cool. You're not rusty, it was good and my parents for sure believed it. And now that our first one is out of the way, just be prepared for a hell of a lot more PDA." And boy, oh boy, was he going to lay it on. After all, it was a trial run.

"Right." She bit her lip. "Okay, I can handle that. It'll be fine."

"Exactly. Now, let's go back and be cheery and lovey, we don't want them to know we've been fighting."

He pointedly offered her his cheek in an attempt to get her to kiss it. Rolling her eyes, Ally reached up onto her tiptoes and planted her lips onto… Austin's lips. The bastard had turned his head at the last second. Well, if he was so keen to get PDA, then she was more than willing to comply. After all, here she was, given the chance to fake-date her _incredibly_ attractive best friend. Who was she to refuse the chance to give a relationship a trial run?

 _Two can play at that game, babe._

 _Yeah, Ally! Yeah, Ally!_

Okay, enough with the self-cheerleading. Taking a deep breath, she smiled sweetly up at Austin and placed her hand into his warm one.

"Let's go, _sweetie._ "

 _ **Yay! Sorry that was a bit of a short chapter but I'm already working on the next one and I'll hopefully get that to you by the end of the week to make up for it!**_

 _ **Reviews make me incredibly happy! Have an amazing day, all the love :)**_


	5. Chapter 5

**_Hey All! Churned this one out in record time! Things begin to get a little heated ;) More shall be coming - probably next week sometime, so have an amazing weekend and everything! Obviously I own naught. Hopefully you enjoy!_**

* * *

Things were beginning to get a little out of control. That's all that Austin could think – that things were beginning to get mildly to extremely worrying. Because Austin was beginning to realize that Ally was the moon. She'd pulled him in and now he was anchored to her. And if she was the moon then he was the tides – hanging onto her every breath, her every word, her every move, her everything. Austin had begun to realize that Ally glowed, and not with the harsh light of the sun, but with the soft haze of the moon. That she somehow made everything seem more gentle and romantic. And Austin had begun to realize that he was, despite his every effort, in love with Ally Dawson.

Things were beginning to get a little out of control. That's all Ally could think – that things were beginning to get extremely worrying. Because Ally was beginning to realize that Austin was the sun. He lit up her world and made everything brighter without even trying. And Ally had begun to realise that she had unwittingly been pulled into his gravitational field and he had somehow become the centre of her solar system – something she was not even remotely happy about. Ally had begun to realize that Austin gave off the most brilliant _light_ and made her into something better than the nerdy, self-conscious teenager that she had been when she'd met him. And Ally had begun to realize that she was, despite her every effort, in love with Austin Moon.

* * *

It had all been going perfectly swimmingly. Until karaoke night after their kiss. So really, things had been going perfectly swimmingly for the whole hour that had passed. The adults had stayed upstairs to drink coffee and talk politics while the cousins, Jace, Ally, and Austin had retired to the basement. Austin's basement was incredible. It had an amazing checkerboard dance floor, a karaoke machine, couches, a fridge and more. It was like their practice room back in Miami, only way bigger and way up-scaled. Ally suddenly had some idea about how Austin had been allowed to spend his paycheck from his first hit on refurbishing her ratty old practice room – his parents weren't exactly struggling for money. In the slightest. The kids all squeezed (or not really squeezed considering the couches were massive and gorgeous, like the rest of the room and the rest of the house) onto the couches while Jace began setting up the karaoke machine.

And that was when Ally felt it. Austin had already pulled her into his side for a snuggle – a move she'd somehow both begrudgingly and eagerly accepted, and she'd decided to test out the waters a little. She snuggled deeper into his side, turning her head into his chest before looking up at him through her eyelashes as she placed a butterfly kiss to his chest.

Austin had been watching the brunette as she snuggled into his side. She was so goddamn _tiny_. He wanted to bundle her into his arms and protect her from the world. He wanted to thread his fingers through her hair with one hand and he wanted to trace every line, every contour of her face (with an extra week devoted just to her _perfect_ lips) for the rest of eternity. And so he'd been watching as Ally looked smugly up at him (how could someone look that _cute_ while smirking?) and placed the smallest of kisses onto his chest. Austin's breath hitched in his throat and his eyes nearly bulged out of his chest. His hands started sweating and he was one hundred percent positive that Ally could feel his heart racing at two hundred miles an hour.

What the hell was wrong with him? Where had the calm, cool, and collected Austin Moon gone? The Austin that could makeout with a girl for hours on end, without cracking a sweat? The Austin who could get a girl to second base without even the slightest _trace_ of butterflies? Where the _fuck_ was that Austin when he needed him? He tried, unsuccessfully, to clam himself down. _Get a grip, Moon. Pull it together. You're being ridiculous._

Meanwhile, Ally was simply smirking up at Austin as she watched the effect her delicate actions were having on the blonde. She sat up, pulling away from Austin's warm body and pulled her hair to one side of her neck, stretching her arms above her head, and arching her back in an attempt to both wake herself up, and stretch out her muscles from her previous position.

And that, a little more specifically, is when she felt it. A pair of lips, Austin Moon's lips to be exact, had somehow managed to attach themselves to her exposed neck. The tiniest, softest of kisses was placed onto her extremely sensitive shoulder. She felt a leg push itself between her and the side of the sofa and all of a sudden she was pulled back until she hit an annoyingly chiseled chest. _Seriously, was it absolutely necessary for him to look like something out of an Abercrombie and Fitch magazine?_ Ally froze, tense as a coiled spring and waited. She could just feel Austin smirking behind her as she realized that she was sitting right against him, in between his legs.

Austin chuckled as Ally sat still as a stone against him - tense and startled. He could just feel her choosing between fight and flight.

"You seem a little tense there, Als."

"I'm fine."

"Is that so?"

"Mmhm. Just pea-" her voice cracked as Austin brushed her hair aside and began massaging her shoulders "-chy.".

Austin chuckled again, his warm breath tickling her neck. A shiver made its way up her spine as she did her best not to heave breathy sighs at the blonde's incredible fingers. He pulled his hands away from her shoulders, and Ally was just about to turn around and give him her best pout and puppy dog eyes in an effort to make him continue when she felt his lips attack her neck. For real this time. Austin was leaving wet, open-mouthed kisses down her neck and onto her collarbone and Ally couldn't decide whether she was horrified or ecstatic about it. He turned her head ever-so slightly and oh-so gently towards his to gain access to the point just below the end of her jaw, close to her ear and sucked on the skin there. Ally couldn't help but let out the tiniest of whimpers (one she hastily covered with a throat clearing) and tilting her head to give Austin better access as he lightly bit and then soothed the area with his tongue.

"Austin…" she managed to get out.

"Yes, Ally?"

"You need to…"

"I need to what exactly?"

And with that he moved up to her ear, pulling her earlobe into his mouth and giving it some fair attention.

All Ally could get out was a breathy "Oh."

Austin flicked her earlobe with his tongue before rolling it lightly between his teeth.

Someone cleared their throat.

"Um. Guys?" Jace asked. _Damn him,_ was all that Ally could think.

Austin drew away, pulling back to admire his handiwork on Ally's neck – a bright red hickey, right on the end of her jaw, just before her ear.

"Sorry about that." He said, not sounding sorry in the slightest.

Ally turned her head to glare at him.

"You will be soon."

Austin gulped.

* * *

 _ **Woohoo! So there it is, hopefully you liked it - it was a little more intense than anything I've written yet, so fingers crossed that it wasn't totally awful.**_

 _ **Reviews make me super happy! All the love :)**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hey everyone! Hope your weekends were all incredible and everything! True to my word here is the next update! Hopefully y'all enjoy it!**_

 _ **Obviously I own naught, and in case you didn't recognise it, the song is "Say You're Just A Friend" by Austin Mahone. Enjoy!**_

Ally pulled the microphone stand towards her and adjusted it to her height. She took a step back and dramatically stretched her arms out above her, cracking her neck from side to side to the chorus of soft giggles coming from the couches. She locked eyes with the gorgeous blonde sitting front and centre and winked at him, a sly grin on her face.

Austin gulped.

He'd known that Ally had been semi-kidding around when she told him he'd be sorry for his earlier hickey work, but he was beginning to get a little anxious. The petite brunette had the voice of an angel, she'd had a couple drinks with the rest of them – just enough to loosen her up a little, and she was semi-pissed and extremely determined to get him back for what he'd done. What she didn't know was that Austin was already pretty crazy about her, even if he was only just beginning to admit it to himself. Being serenaded by the brown-eyed beauty could only end one way – with him falling a little deeper in love. So yeah, he was a little anxious.

Ally was ready. She was more than ready. She was born for this. She'd found her song, she'd gotten herself into the zone, and she was ready to make Austin Moon regret ever messing with her in the first place.

 _Bring it on._

The opening sequence began playing.

Oh no. He knew this song. _Goddammit, Ally._

She turned her back, ready to turn with a swish at exactly the right beat.

* * *

 _Hey hey baby you been on my mind_

 _I knew you for a long time_

 _And I been thinking baby that you should know_

Ally's voice melted over the notes, as she bent her neck turning her head to the side, keeping her grip on the microphone, making goofy faces at Austin. Her body swayed almost against her will to the beat of the song.

Breathe, Austin. You can do this. Keep it cool.

Goofy faces. Okay. He could handle goofy faces. Goofy faces were totally okay. Her hip swinging however, that was just barely bearable.

 _Hey hey baby can we compromise_

 _I really want you to be mine_

 _I got a million places that we should go_

Ally had made her way up to him. She'd pulled the microphone off its stand and walked tantalizingly slowly towards him, her hips swaying just in time with the beat. And now she was standing right in front of him, a playful gleam to her huge doe eyes, which she widened at him, coming to stand just a little closer to him and leaning over to gently touch his chin.

 _I wanna be your everything_

 _I wanna be the one you need_

 _So tell me where you been all my life_

 _Gonna make you mine tonight_

She sat on his lap. He was hyperventilating. She smiled sweetly and sang the words right into his ear, tracing soft outlines onto his face as she did, a personal show that felt like it was just for him. She chuckled her way through the verse, finishing with a feather light touch to his almost-dimple before hopping back up.

 _Hey baby you_

 _You got what I need_

 _But you say you're just a friend_

 _Yeah you say you're just a friend_

 _Hey baby you_

 _You got what I need_

 _But you say you're just a friend_

 _Yeah you say you're just a friend_

She sang the chorus at him as dramatically as she could, her hands grasping and pulling at thin air, falling to her knees and tapping into her inner Trish as much as she could.

 _Hey hey baby we been on the phone_

 _Spending time together alone_

 _And every time we talk the words don't come out right_

She crawled towards him, still poking fun, making a joke of it, but Austin couldn't laugh. This song; her there and serenading him. The way she was singing so easily, making it so heartfelt, without even trying. And the song _was_ heartfelt, for him at least. Austin almost couldn't handle the brunette crawling towards him, a twinkle in her eye as she playfully sat with her back to him, in between his legs.

 _Hey hey baby when I look in your eyes_

 _I can tell you're holding something aside_

 _I've been thinking about you-you-you_

 _I've been thinking about me-me-me_

Ally couldn't help but feel a little vulnerable, her smile faltering just slightly. Choosing the song, she hadn't quite realised how close to home it would hit – it had just been a favourite pop song that she knew she'd be able to belt out without needing to glance at the lyrics. But somehow singing the lyrics, she was beginning to understand them a little more – in a way she hadn't really thought about before. She pulled herself together and kept going – she could _not_ let Austin see that this song actually, kind of, really _meant_ something to her.

 _I wanna be your everything_

 _I wanna be the one you need_

 _So tell me where you been all my life_

 _Gonna make you mine tonight_

 _Hey baby you_

 _You got what I need_

 _But you say you're just a friend_

 _Yeah you say you're just a friend_

 _Hey baby you_

 _You got what I need_

 _But you say you're just a friend_

 _Yeah you say you're just a friend_

This girl would be the death of him. How could one person sing karaoke like that? How could someone manage to sound so goddamn good and yet also manage to give such a _performance_ like that? She was taking his breath away and he wasn't happy about it in the slightest.

 _In carol city spending most of my life_

 _Trying to make the world whistle it's a hell of a life_

 _How I made them all get low bring it back right around_

 _Let the good times roll feeling good right now_

 _But I remember Biz Markie 1989 or maybe 90,_

 _Came to me like a song I wrote, cutting class_

 _Chasing you 'cause you're all I want_

 _Like you, you got what I need,_

 _And if not I'll just pretend until I can get your friend_

 _I'm playing though but maybe there's a little truth sprinkle in 'em,_

 _We be catching eyes and I can see the twinkle in 'em_

 _Thought we'd be together until I seen the wrinkle in 'em_

 _But I guess not_

Yes! She fucking _nailed_ that rap. She refused to spend all of her time singing to Austin and so with the rap she decided to perform for the rest of her audience - all his cousins and Jace. And hell yeah they loved it. All cheers and 'Go Ally!'s. She put on her best Flo Rida and chanelled her inner rap god. Not completely forgetting Austin though, she made sure to lock eyes with him as she mentioned getting friends, and sat in Jace's lap, winking right at him. What she didn't expect to see was the slight clenching of Austin's fists at her actions. She frowned, more than a little confused.

 _Hey baby you_

 _You got what I need_

 _But you say you're just a friend_

 _Yeah you say you're just a friend_

 _Hey baby you_

 _You got what I need_

 _But you say you're just a friend_

 _Yeah you say you're just a friend_

 _Hey baby you_

 _You got what I need_

 _But you say you're just a friend_

 _Yeah you say you're just a friend_

 _Hey baby you_

 _You got what I need_

 _But you say you're just a friend_

 _Yeah you say you're just a friend_

She finished with a flourish – singing to each of Austin's cousins individually, giving care to make sure Austin came last of course (only because she had to keep up fake girlfriend appearances, _duh_ ), and finishing with the microphone back in the stand and a final twirl and wink. The couch erupted into a chorus of whoops and cheers and Ally managed to give a dramatic bow before erupting into laughter herself. She went to sit back down next to Austin, only to feel his hand attach itself to her leg almost immediately.

He wasn't sure exactly what to say and he was having trouble breathing so he said the only thing he could:

"That was pretty something."

Her breath hitched. She didn't let it show, tossing her hair back and giving him a sassy, "Pretty something?"

"Yep."

"You flatter me." She rolled her eyes at him playfully.

Austin's eyes darted down to her lips. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Ally had been absolutely _amazing_ and all he wanted to do was taste the last of the lyrics right out of her mouth. And to convince everyone that they were dating. Obviously. He leaned in ever so slightly only to find Ally actually meet him halfway this time. Kissing her was like heaven. Boy, oh boy, he could get used to this.

Austin's lips fit onto hers just perfectly. They were warm and soft and she couldn't help the fireworks that exploded in her stomach every time he kissed her. Hell, every time he touched her she just about imploded. She melted into it, threading her hands through his feathery hair and pulling just lightly at it. She nearly lost it when his teeth just barely grazed her lower lip but all of a sudden he was pulling away, her lips following his ever so slightly at the break of contact.

Ally cleared her throat and attempted to regain her composure while Austin smirked down at her.

"My turn." He said, standing and sauntering towards the microphone.

Ally swallowed thickly.

 _ **And boom! There it is! Hopefully you all liked it, I'm having a fabulous time writing it! And thankyou to all of you for your beautiful reviews, you made me smile so much!**_

 _ **Reviews make me happy! All the love :)**_


	7. Chapter 7

**_Hey All! Next chapter! And a long one too, yay! I'm back at school now, so I shall attempt to get more out next week, but don't hate me if I'm a bit late! I'm super sorry, things just get a little crazy occasionally._**

 ** _Anyhow, obviously I own nothing. So sit back, relax and have a read. Hope you enjoy!_**

* * *

The night was coming to an end. Austin had done a fantastic performance (as usual), and had left Ally an unusual combination of flustered, adoring and annoyed.

 _What an overachiever,_ had been her predominant thought throughout his performance. And he'd done what he always did. Sang to her (or any other girl he chose at his concerts) and made her feel like she was the centre of his world. Like, maybe, just maybe, when he sang those goddamn beautiful words he really meant it. But she was being crazy. There was no way that Austin was into her. He was just one hell of a performer. And, a lot more surprisingly, one hell of an actor.

He'd meant it. Every single word. He'd felt a little weird choosing a One Direction song, but he knew Ally was a fan and (secretly) he was too. He knew _Strong_ and it'd always stuck out to him. The words were so honest, so truthful. They were so exactly what he was feeling for Ally. And he'd thought, just for a few moments there, when he'd been singing his heart and soul out to her, that maybe she'd heard. That maybe she'd heard and, most importantly, that maybe the words didn't make her want to run away. That maybe, just maybe, Ally Dawson could feel the same way for him as he did for her. But that was crazy. She was just doing him a favour. She was just trying to convince his family that she was in love with him. He couldn't afford to get his hopes up for someone like Ally. It'd hurt too much.

* * *

They'd made their way back to the room together, making the (surprisingly long) walk in total silence, each biting their lip and sneaking furtive glances at the other. Each wondering, hoping. Each entirely absorbed in their own thoughts. Each entirely absorbed in each other. And then, there they were. Once again, standing in front of the bed.

They looked at each other. Ally cleared her throat.

"I guess we could… I mean, if you wanted… I, uh, we could share it?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean we have before right?"

It was Austin's turn to clear his throat, as his mind found its way back to all the nights he'd spend curled up with Ally on the couch of the music room, after their crazy lives and poor time management skills had resulted in yet another all nighter to finish a song. He lived for those nights. Ally always started out a little tense and stressed, and he'd mess around for a while, just trying to make her laugh. Eventually she'd crack with a chuckle and those exasperatedly affectionate smiles that she kept just for him, and they'd sit on the floor, passing a bucket of Fruity Mint Swirl and a spoon between them, while they brainstormed ideas. She'd get a little tired, her eyelids beginning to droop just slightly, making her typically huge eyes a little more normal sized. She'd look up at him and smile contentedly. And they'd finish the song easily (just as they always did, because they just _worked_ together), and they'd curl up together on the couch (just _fitting_ together), Austin pulling Ally back into him and burying his nose in her strawberry scented hair. He'd never even thought twice about it, until now. Until he'd realised how dumb he'd been not to realise that the greatest thing that had ever happened to him had been right under his nose (quite literally).

"Yeah, for sure. I mean, if that's okay with you. I can sleep on the floor if you'd be uncomfortable."

Ally looked up at him, her eyes wide. "Is that… I mean, do you not want to?"

"No! I mean, yes! I mean definitely, if you're cool with it." He mentally face palmed.

"Okay. Great."

"Great."

"I guess I'll get ready for bed first then."

"Okay. I'll just, you know. Be here."

"Okay."

They looked at each other for another second before Ally turned, bending over her suitcase and pulling some things out of it. She moved timidly towards the bathroom, all of her hip swaying, sauntering confidence from before well and truly gone.

She closed the bathroom door and took a look at herself in the mirror.

 _Damn it, Ally._

 _You look like a goddamn mess._

 _Okay, no. It doesn't matter what you look like. Because he doesn't have feelings for you like that._

 _It's platonic. Everything is going to be fine. Just chill._

She took a deep breath and changed into her pyjamas, a pair of boxer short things and a long sleeve button up sleep shirt, both with pink themed stripes.

 _Not even remotely sexy. Good._

She pulled her hair out and brushed it, letting soft curls cascade down her back. She wiped of all her makeup and steeled herself, well aware that this was the most natural Austin had ever seen her. Even those nights in the practice room she didn't take off her makeup. It was always minimal, but always there on days when she was seeing him. And he'd never seen her in _pyjamas_ before. She felt weird. It was almost more intimate than seeing her in a swimsuit. It was just _her_. As naked (metaphorically speaking) as could be.

She pulled open the door, and watched as Austin's eyes moved to her, widening slightly. He licked his lips, just slightly, as subtly as could be. She let out a shy smile and ducked her head, moving to her side of the bed, settling under the covers and turning her attention to the TV screen Austin had been watching before she'd come into the room.

"All done. Your turn, I guess."

He cleared his throat. "Yep. I'll just be a sec."

He half jogged towards his suitcase, pulling out what he needed before sneaking another glance at Ally, the lights of the TV dancing across her face. He ducked into the bathroom, collapsing against the bathroom door, and letting out a soft groan.

How could one person look that good? How could one person wearing _pyjamas_ for Christ's sake, look that _sexy_? He'd never really realised that Ally wore makeup around him, it always looked pretty natural, but now he knew. Why she wore it he'd never know. He thought she looked even better without it.

 _Holy. Shit._

 _Damnit Austin. Keep it together._

He looked at himself in the mirror. Hair tousled, eyes dark and face a little to pale.

He sighed.

 _Of course I choose today, this second, to look like absolute shit._

He pulled on his pyjama pants and finished up, pulling open the door and hurrying towards the bed. Ally's eyes didn't waver from the television screen. He sat beside her, letting his eyes wander a little while she was otherwise occupied. He took in her shorts, showing off her gorgeously creamy white legs. God, what he wouldn't give to have them wrapped around his waist, while he pushed her up against a door and-

 _Stop it, Austin. Pull yourself together._

He continued in his gazing. Her chestnut hair, falling down her back and looking tantalisingly silky. He wanted to feel it slip through his finders. Her oversized button up, making him wish to see her in one of _his_ button ups. Her fresh face and slightly hooded lids.

He gulped thickly.

* * *

 _Fucking Austin._

 _Of course that's what he looks like when he goes to bed._

Austin didn't wear a shirt to bed. Of fucking course he didn't. She'd known that already (he always took off his shirt before they curled up together on the Music Room's couch, but she hadn't paid attention before now. Never really thought much of it.

 _Stupid. You should have paid attention, you dipshit._

She sighed and refused to look at him until she was positively certain he was focused on the TV screen she'd stubbornly glued her eyes to. She looked sneakily over at him, taking in his _sexily_ tousled bed hair. His dark eyes. Bedroom eyes, his ex-girlfriends always called them. She was beginning to understand why. She let her eyes travel downwards, over his sculpted chest, to his chiseled (but not too chiseled) abs, and that ridiculous (ridiculously delicious) V line disappearing under the waistline of his low riding pyjama pants. She sighed, licking her lips just slightly.

 _God. You could cut the tension in here with a knife._

 _Keep it cool. Keep it friendly. Stop making things uncomfortable._

"All right. Well. Big day." she said, just a little too loudly. _One job Ally. One job. And you still managed to screw it up._

"Yeah. 'Nother big one ahead." He didn't turn from the screen.

"Mmhmm. We should…" He finally turned those eyes onto her, drying her words up in her throat. She shook herself out of it slightly. "Probably, um. Get some sleep." She finished.

He nodded at her, not trusting himself to speak when she had those eyes, those slightly hooded, deep, dark brown eyes settled on him.

They both pulled the covers up laying down and facing each other, the TV now black and silent.

They stared at each other in the faint moonlight making its way through the curtains. Austin placed his hand, soft and careful as could be, onto her hip. Ally turned around in his grip, letting her back face him and pushing herself just a little closer. She'd let him decide what to do about that.

Austin gulped. He'd done a lot of gulping already this trip and it was only the end of the first night. Goddamn, he needed to get better at this. He felt Ally turn and push herself slightly closer to him, and let himself smile just slightly.

 _Screw it. This is_ not _going to get uncomfortable._

 _She's too important to me to lose over something dumb like a few feelings._

He pulled her into him, hard, the way he always did at their all nighters, both feeling and hearing the startled noise that escaped her. He nuzzled into her, throwing his arm over her waist and burrowing his nose into her hair, in just the same nonchalant way he always did in the Music Room.

Ally smiled, breathing deeply as Austin's nose found its way into her hair and his arm pinned over her waist, just the way that it always did in the Music Room.

"Goodnight Austin."

"Mm. G'night Ally."

* * *

 _ **Woohoo! There it is friends! Hopefully you liked it, sorry about the lack of actual PDA, but I thought it was kind of nice to just have the tension and all.**_

 _ **Anyways, reviews never fail to brighten my day, thankyou to all of you that leave me a message, they bring a smile to my face.**_

 _ **All the love :)**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hey all! Here we go! Next chapter is officially here. Sorry it's a little late.**_

 _ **Obviously I own nothing, and all that jazz. So have a read, and hopefully you like it :)**_

* * *

Austin didn't wake up the way he was expecting to. He was expecting to wake up to Ally gone from the bed, probably in the shower. He was expecting to wake up far too late to Ally banging around in the bathroom as loudly as possible to wake him up in time for breakfast.

Instead, he woke up far too early, to a just lightening room, with Ally's soft form snuggled securely into his side, her hair a gorgeous mess, and her serene face far too beautiful for him to comprehend. He gulped, slowly disentangling their legs and extracting himself from the girl beside him. He managed to do so without waking her up, only to move from the bed and bump into the bedside table. He watched almost in slow motion as the lamp teetered, just about to fall, watched his arm reach out to grab it at the last second, just barely managing to return it to it's position. He breathed heavily and swore softly, looking back at Ally, whose only response was to roll over and snuggle deeper into the covers, planting her face firmly into her pillow with a soft sigh.

A small smile flitted across Austin's lips before he managed to get a control of himself. He pulled on a shirt and dashed downstairs, looking for one particular person.

Jace was sitting at the kitchen counter, a cup of orange juice in hand, still in his pyjamas. Austin let out a sigh of relief and dropped himself heavily onto the stool beside Jace, stealing his glass for a sip or juice.

"Get your own, you ass." Jace said, taking back his juice and giving Austin a none-too-soft punch on the arm instead. "You're up early."

"Yeah." They sat in silence for a while longer, watching the fog creep closer to the house and listening to the soft noises of the house around them.

It wasn't until Jace made a move to leave that Austin finally worked up the courage to make his move.

"Listen. Can I… Can I talk to you about something? Like, without you telling Mom and Dad or anything?"

Jace once again sat down slowly on the stool beside Austin, watching as his brother pulled tiredly at his hair, nodding and waiting for him to begin.

"I think I may have really fucked up."

"What'd you do?"

"Okay. Okay, so you know how Ally's here."

Jace rolled his eyes. "Yes Austin. I had noticed."

"And you know how she's my girlfriend."

"Are you going to quit being a dumbass and get to the point or am I going to have grandkids waiting for you to spit it out?"

Austin levelled a glare at Jace. It didn't quite have the desired effect, Jace simply looked right back at him. Austin sighed, rubbing tiredly at his eyes.

"Ally's not my girlfriend."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"She's not my girlfriend. I asked Ally to help me out because you know how bad Mom's been on my back after the whole Piper incident. And I didn't want to have to deal with her thinking I was heartbroken constantly, and she's been trying to set me up with girls and they're all just not for me and so eventually I just said me and Ally were dating. And then Mom's been wanting to see us together for ages since then and I've been putting it off for months, but she was getting weird about it, so I told Ally and asked her to be my pretend girlfriend for the week here. And she said yes, even though she didn't really want to, and I definitely don't deserve her as a friend-"

"Woah, woah. What the _fuck_? You're not dating Ally? Dude, did you think any of this through at all?"

"Well evidently not. But it gets worse."

Jace settled a little more comfortably into his seat. If Austin didn't know better he'd almost say he was enjoying himself a little.

"I'm listening." Jace smirked. Damn him. Definitely enjoying himself.

"IthinkImightbelikeinlovewithAlly."

"You're gonna have to articulate a little more than that, bro."

Austin groaned, his head in his hands as he said slowly and carefully, voice only slightly muffled from his hands, "I think I might be in love with Ally."

He heard the softest sharp intake of breath. Probably from Jace.

Jace breathed out heavily.

"Yeah… Yeah you definitely fucked up."

And at that precise moment Ally walked out from the hallway into the kitchen, a slightly shocked look in her eyes, but a deceptively innocent smile on her face.

* * *

Ally didn't wake up the way she was expecting to. She'd been expecting to wake up to gentle sunlight filtering through the curtains, painting everything in a soft gold glow. She'd been expecting to wake up to Austin's soft snores, his heavy warmth beside her and to be trapped under his arm. Long story short, she'd been expecting to wake up to a real life romantic comedy scene.

Instead, she woke up to dull light filtering through (it was a foggy morning) and an empty bed. It was rather cold too, without Austin's body heat to envelop her in its warmth.

She sat up slowly, looking around wearily, listening for sounds from the bathroom, anything really, to give her an indication of where Austin had gotten to, or why he was up before her.

She wrangled her hair into a pony tail and rubbed at her eyes, looking around more more alertly.

Nothing. Where could the blond haired menace have gotten to?

She pulled on some soft socks and slowly padded down the hallway, stopping right before it opened out into the kitchen when she heard Austin's voice, saying, clear as day (though slightly muffled for some reason), "I think I might be in love with Ally."

She couldn't help the sharp intake of breath that escaped her as a result. She learned against the wall for support as she heard Jace's heavy exhale. Austin couldn't be in _love_ with her. She was just Ally. Plain old Ally. And he was Austin. He was goddamn _sunshine_ for crying out loud, going around brightening people's lives with his goddamn thousand watt smile. But apparently plain old Ally was enough for Austin Moon to like her.

Her stomach was a mess with butterflies and nausea (a certifiably terrible combination), and she felt slightly like she might throw up relatively soon. It was fine. He'd get over it, and she would too and they'd go back to being just Austin and Ally. Purely platonic Austin and Ally. Because if it was one thing she knew for certain, it was that she couldn't risk losing her sunshine, the best thing that had ever happened to her.

She was dimly aware of Jace's eloquent answer of, "Yeah… Yeah you definitely fucked up."

She plastered an innocent smile onto her face, gave a last attempt to calm the nerves in her stomach and the skittish jitters that were threatening to take over her entire body. She refused to be weird, just deciding to wait it out. Austin would get over it. She was just Ally. It was just that she was here, and they were kissing and things were getting confusing for everyone involved. All they had to do was get out of freaking _Texas_ and get back to Miami. They just had to get back to all the beachy blondes who draped themselves over him, and Austin would forget about her in a second. It was no big deal.

And with that, she walked out into the kitchen, flashing an innocent grin and a quiet 'Good morning' at the rather shell-shocked pair.

* * *

 _ **Ta-da! Hopefully you liked it! Sorry, another no PDA one, but I kind of liked it anyways, hopefully y'all did too.**_

 ** _Anyways, reviews always bring a smile to my face, thank you to all of you for reading, and for reviews and all of that._**

 ** _All the love, and have a spectacular day :)_**


	9. Chapter 9

_**Hey All! So next chapter is here! Woohoo! It's a little shorter, but to make it up to you I'm going to be bringing out the next chapter this Sunday (so like two days time), so yasss.**_

 _ **I own nothing and all that jazz, have a read and a relax and hopefully you like it. :)**_

* * *

Their sort of first, sort of second full day in Texas is sunshine. It's exploring Austin's hometown with his family, it's joking with Jace and chatting with the cousins. It's flitting in and out of the farmer's market stalls. It's blushing and trying not to think too much into things when Austin pushes her hair behind her ear. It's happiness and nerves and butterflies and terror. It's learning more about Austin and learning to love his family. It's sweaty hand holding and quick pecks on the cheek in an effort to convince all of his family that they are, in fact, dating.

Ally loves every second of it. Actually, that's not entirely true. She loves every second of learning more about Austin. She loves the butterflies and the sunshine and the farmer's markets that put any others that she's been to to utter shame. She loves chatting and laughing and feeling wanted. She loves Jace and the cousins. She doesn't even mind Mimi leaning into her and asking her about Austin and she positively _adores_ listening to Mimi dish about his most embarrassing stories as a child.

The seconds she doesn't love, are the terrifying ones where she thinks her heart might beat its way out of her chest and just flop onto the floor and kind of wither there for a while, still beating while Ally looks on for a second and then crumples to the floor in a mess of blood and cliches and bad 60s horror movies. Ally doesn't love the moments where she feels as if Austin has to be hearing the skipping of her heart, where she thinks he just _has_ to notice the sweatiness of her palms, the deer-in-the-headlights look in her eyes every time he brushes past her, or looks meaningfully into her eyes, or leans in to brush her hair or kiss her sweetly. He's keeping things extremely PG rated today, something she's more than grateful for, but she's still absolutely _freaking_ out.

Because all Ally's been able to think about since roughly 7 o'clock this morning have been the words that had tumbled no-so-gracefully out of Austin's mouth. She hasn't been able to let go of his 'I think I might be in love with Ally'. Because the thing is, Ally is positively petrified of Austin. Not in any scary or bad way, but she's terrified of the effect he has on her, the butterflies that have taken up residence in her stomach whenever he touches or even so much as _brushes_ her (so they're there pretty fucking often, goddamnit) and that the butterflies are beginning to turn into fireworks.

Ally's come to terms with the fact that she definitely likes and maybe even a little bit loves Austin Monica Moon. She's not happy about it, and the butterflies that are slowly turning into something a little more distracting and a lot more painful are annoying and kind of hurting, but she's _fine_.

And she has been fine, whenever she's had tiny, fleeting crushes on Austin in the past, she's quenched them fiercely. She's given herself a stern talking to, or enlisted Trish for the job. She's never allowed them to get further than a glancing thought on his bright, laughing hazel eyes and his enchanting personality.

And now, it might be a little more intense and a little more out of her hands (not something she can push away with a quick word), but it's just her thing. It's her own feelings that she needs to get a grip on, because she's lucky to have Austin in her life in any way, and she doesn't even think she's wants to risk losing him for a chance at a relationship that probably neither of them are really ready for anyway.

And so Ally had been fine, keeping feelings tightly wrapped for the last day, and the last two years, and trying hard not to think about her unrequited _whatever_ on Austin, because that's all it had ever been. Something small, something manageable, something categorised, something completely Ally, something controllable and okay.

And now, all of a sudden, Austin's come through and ransacked her mind's filing cabinets, the categories are fucking everywhere and nowhere, nothing is manageable and nothing is okay, in a display of the kind of havoc only Austin can wreak. Ally isn't really okay, because her and Austin is something she's never even really considered, yesterday and before that. There's always been someone else out there for Austin, someone better, and someone decidedly not Ally. And she's never questioned the way Austin felt about her (it'd been in a clearly labeled box in her brain which this morning Austin had thrown out the goddamn window). It's always been purely friendly and completely innocent.

But now… Now Ally has no idea what is going on in Austin brain.

Ally has no idea what's going on in _her_ brain, for crying out loud. (She hasn't for the last 24 hours _at least_ and she isn't remotely happy about it.)

 _Shit._

* * *

The day passes in a blur of chaste kisses and laughter and sunshine for Austin. He's basking in Ally's warmth and avoiding Jace's obtrusive and pointed gaze and chatting with the stall owners and his family. It's all more than good.

Only, every now and then, when he brushes Ally or leans toward her, or whispers in her ear (and okay, no, it's o _bviously_ not just because he wants to convince his parents anymore, but more because he _wants_ to, so sue him), Ally gets this look in her eyes, like she wants to run away. Like, far, far away. Like Canada kind of far away. And then she blinks and the look is gone and she's no longer a deer in the headlights and she turns away quickly, entering into a conversation with Mimi or Jace, or anyone else who is lucky enough to get a second in her presence. Ally is warming the entire state with her personality without even realising it, and Austin can tell that his family _adore_ her (something he's both pleased and kind of mad about, because they can love her, but they can't take _his_ Ally away from him, he wants some time with her too, goddamnit).

Ally's enchanting everyone just by being her, and Austin is no exception - he's well and truly under her spell.

* * *

 _ **And there is was friends. Hopefully you liked it, I absolutely love the reviews you leave me, and to the Guest who asked me about the prompted one-shot, I'm working on it, but I'll probably not post it for a couple weeks until I kind of get a bit more through this, because it's going to turn into a bit of a crazy long multi-chap to be honest.**_

 _ **Anyway, please leave a review :)**_

 _ **All the love, have a fantastic weekend and day.**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Hey friends. Here we go, as promised the next instalment. Again it's a little shorter, but to be honest I kind of like dragging it out like this, and it isn't feeling forced to me yet or anything.**_

 _ **Obviously I own naught. I love you all, hopefully you like it.**_

* * *

Of _fucking_ course.

That's the only thing going through Austin's mind.

Of course they have to be at a _goddamn_ carnival. As if this entire week isn't already, and he has no doubt will continue to be, something out of _The Notebook,_ they have to be at a _carnival_.

Nothing helpful ever happens at carnivals. At least, nothing helpful ever happens in relation to getting over a relatively gigantic, and unrequited, crush on your best friend.

And so, Austin's had it up to here.

All day, Ally's been walking around, with her perfect hair, and her perfect body and her perfect face.

Except the thing is, Ally isn't perfect - her hair's a little messy and knotty from the wind, she isn't all sharp curves and obvious muscle toning like the girls Austin usually likes, and she even has a pimple today.

Which literally makes things even _worse._ because she's not even at her best, and yet he still can't help but find her irresistible. He's relatively sure he'll die once he sees Ally all dressed up for the town-charity-gala thing they have to go to in a few days time.

 _Don't go there Austin. That's dangerous territory_ , he tells himself.

So, Austin's had it up to here. Not only is he forced to spend time with the girl who could possibly be the love of his life, his veritable soulmate, if you will, (if those exist, and he's never believed in that stuff _at all_ , but spending more and more time with Ally is beginning to make him less certain), not only that, but he's been taking her around his home town, watching her face light up and giving that little giggle of hers every now and then at some dumb joke he makes up just to please her. Not only has he been watching Ally's every tiny move and dying just a little bit inside because even when she's clumsy (she very nearly overturned an entire stall at the markets today) she's so goddamn adorable, but he's been kissing and hugging and holding and joking and leaning and generally being far too close to Ally all day for him to remain sane.

Austin doesn't think it's really fair for someone like her to even be alive. In fact, he's 99% positive that Ally was placed on Earth just to torment him.

So Austin's had a tough day to say the least. And then of course (of fucking course) Jace came up with the _brilliant_ idea of going to the carnival that night. And Austin had been very vocal in his negative feelings towards the idea, at least until Ally's face had lit up like a Christmas tree and he'd folded like a house of cards (he's past the point of even trying to convince himself that it was just because that's what he would do if he was actually dating her, and they're still faking _obviously_ ).

And here they are. At a carnival. Lights all around. Two hours to kill before they all meet up for the fireworks and Austin will kiss Ally all romantically (dying a little inside all the while) to convince his parents that he's dating her.

God, he's not even _enjoying_ pretending to date Ally anymore. He's sure he would, but somehow things got muddled and now it's all just too painful to be pleasing.

They go their separate ways from Austin's family, and Austin can feel it in his whole body when Ally moves away a little, putting a more platonic distance between him. He almost aches, all he wants is to draw her close to him and kiss her. All he wants to do is smooth her hair out of her face and win her teddy bears and nuzzle into her hair, drowning himself in the smell of her strawberry shampoo and vanilla body lotion.

So he does the only part of that which he can. He drags Ally to a stall (revelling in the feel of her hand in his, even though it's been that way for the majority of the day) and wins her the biggest teddy bear he can. He watches her blush (and loves it) and watches what looks like some kind of inner battle as she looks down at the teddy. She shakes her thoughts off and shoots him a grin.

"I'll love him with my entire heart, and I'm going to name him Russell."

Austin chuckles and falls a little harder. "Really Ally? Russell? Is that… a good name for a teddy bear?"

Ally pouts and looks at him through her eyelashes and Austin immediately back tracks.

"On second thought, Russell is absolute perfection."

 _Absolute perfection? What the_ fuck _?_

He turns quickly away and they while away the time at various stalls, letting the sounds of the carnival wash over them. They go on rollercoasters together (and Austin gets to hold Ally for a second while pretending to purely platonically comfort her), they chat about everything and nothing, and Austin forgets about the look in Ally's eyes, he forgets about the fact that he's in the stickiest situation of his life, he forgets that he's in unrequited love with Ally, and he forgets about everyone else in the world for a little while. Instead, he lets himself be totally and utterly steeped in Ally's presence, and let's himself enjoy just the two of them, just Austin and Ally, the way it's supposed to be.

That is, until they climb onto the ferris wheel and (like every cliche chick flick that Ally and his mother have forced him to watch) get stuck at the very top.

Of _fucking_ course. Just his luck.

* * *

 _ **Ta-da! Hopefully you like it, sorry I would have made it longer and finished the night, but I was really tired and not feeling it that much (I've been working tonnes this weekend) and so I thought I'd leave it here for now and give you something in a couple days time.**_

 _ **Reviews make me happy, and to all of you who have left me them, I adore you, and I also adore all of you who are reading this, it honestly means so much more to me than you realise.**_

 _ **Continue being absolute gems, have a fantastic day and all the love :)**_


	11. Chapter 11

**_Aloha mes amis! Yes I did just mix languages there. I'm superbly sorry about the delay - it's exam time so I'm a little snowed under, but I'll try and get the next chapter up by the end of the week anyway. And without further ado, here's the next chapter!_**

 ** _T_** ** _hank y'all for reading, I love each and every one of you._**

 ** _Obviously I own absolutely nothing. Have a read, hopefully you'll like reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. :)_**

* * *

Oh no. Oh _shit_. Fuckity fuck.

Ally can feel her breathing begin to get shallower, taking short sharp breaths and pushing herself towards the side of the ferris wheel, trying not to freak out. Because while Ally isn't afraid of heights, she most certainly _is_ claustrophobic.

Austin is looking down at the ground and trying to see what's happening when he looks over at Ally. He lets himself be mesmerised by her for a second, watching the moonlight hit her face, softening already soft edges.

Ally is soft edges and tinkling laughter. She is quiet murmurs and early morning sunshine. She's sleep raspy voices and quiet piano melodies.

Except right now, Ally looks more than a little terrified.

Shit. Ally's claustrophobic.

* * *

Austin pushes himself into the seat beside Ally. He rubs soothing circles into her back and that's what seems to push her over the edge. Sharp sobs make their way out of her throat and she crumples into Austin, gasping for breath.

"Ally. Ally, listen to me. I'm here, okay? We're going to be fine, it's all going to be okay. Breathe for me Ally, can you do that?"

Ally nods at him, her huge eyes shining as she looks up at him, pulling back a little to let her lungs expand entirely. Austin counts the breaths for her, but Ally can't seem to do it - she manages for two breaths and then degenerates into her sharp gasps from before.

Her chin wobbles. "I can't- I can't," gasp, "I can't breathe."

Austin takes her hand and places it on his chest, letting her feel his heartbeat. He pushes Ally back so that she's leaning against the seat, her body stretched out, and, soft as can be, places his hand on her stomach.

"I'm here. Can you feel my heartbeat Ally? See, there's nothing to be worried about. We're going to be fine. Breathe in for me."

She does, and Austin can feel her lungs expand too quickly - he knows she hasn't filled them to capacity but at the same time won't be able to get more air in.

"Okay let it out. I need you to go a little slower for me okay? Breathe in, one, two, three, four, five, six. And now hold it for me. And then out, two, three, four."

Ally can feel her lungs expanding. She focuses on Austin's heartbeat under her hand, taking her other hand and placing it in his, turning her attention to her breathing and the sound of his voice, guiding her through it. She misses the sudden quickening of Austin's heart before it makes its way back to its usual speed, she isn't paying attention to the clammy feel of his palm against hers.

Austin takes a deep breath, looking at Ally's hand in his. He needs to keep it together, now is not the time to be going at getting all lovestruck. He has to stay cool, for Ally. So Austin doesn't let himself focus on Ally's smooth palm in his, clammy and cool, but smooth none the less. He doesn't let himself focus on her details, the damp strands at her hairline, the closed eyes, her pursed lips and she breaths in and out. He doesn't let himself focus on how she still smells like strawberries and vanilla, on her eyelashes and her skin and her slight frame.

Instead he focuses on her breathing, and on his own, talking the two of them through their breaths, settling his heart rate and refusing to let himself be washed away by the overwhelming amount of _Ally_ , all in a close, confined space.

The ferris wheel doesn't stay stopped for long, only a couple of minutes before they're slowly being brought back down to the ground, but it feels like a lifetime for the two in the carriage right at the top.

They step off the ferris wheel and Austin's family are waiting for them a little ways off, but Austin pulls Ally to the side first. He brushes away the tear tracks lingering on her cheeks, smooths her hair out of her face and presses a kiss to her forehead.

"Thankyou." She breathes.

"It was nothing."

"It wasn't nothing to me, Austin."

He squirms a little under the ferocity of her gaze, before looking up and meeting her eyes. They both soften and relax, letting the tension fall from their shoulders.

Austin pulls Ally closer, resting his hear against hers, trying not to focus on how easily he could close the gap, but instead on his words.

"I'm always here. You know that, right? I'm never going anywhere until you get sick of me of your own volition. And we'll be okay, always. We're Austin and Ally."

Ally isn't sure that Austin's completely talking about the ferris wheel or about what she thinks he's beginning to suspect she overheard this morning, but she breathes in his words, feeling them enter her lungs and her heart, feeling herself fall just a little bit harder for the sweet, sweet boy in front of her.

And so, she sways forward just the tiniest bit, pushing herself onto her tiptoes and placing her hands lightly onto his chest, and presses her lips against his. It's a chaste kiss, a short thank you and nothing but sweetness and the tiniest bit of salt. Austin's hand makes its way to her waist while the other winds itself into her hair, and boy, oh boy, Ally could get used to this. It's sweet and innocent and gentle and perfect.

When they break apart and Austin looks at Ally confusedly, she shrugs and nods her head in the direction of his family.

Ah. Right.

And with a short kiss and a quick nod, Austin is brought crashing down to reality, the softness of Ally's lips leaving his own tingling in the best way, and his heart so fast he's worried for his safety, and the reality of the situation hitting him like a bucket of ice water.

Because with the whole ferris wheel situation, words he'd meant more than anything else he'd said in his life, and a kiss that left him dizzy, dazed, and wanting more, Austin had forgotten one, tiny, insignificant fact.

Ally wasn't in love with Austin. Not in the way he wanted her to be.

* * *

 _ **Ta-da! Hopefully you enjoyed it, and I am once again sorry about the delay.**_

 _ **Reviews make me far happier than you know, so I would love it if you'd leave one. Thankyou to you all for reading and for reviews, and all of that jazz, you're all gorgeous humans.**_

 _ **All the love, have a phenomenal day/rest of the week. :)**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Hey All! Sorry again, I know I've been away for ages, I kind of just lost motivation to work on it for a while, and I was working and studying like crazy and all that jazz. But to make up for it, it's substantially longer than usual and so hopefully you like it.**_

 _ **I definitely don't own anything you might happen to recognise in it, thankyou to every one of you for reading, you're all stars.**_

 _ **Love you, hope you like it.**_

* * *

The next day dawned sunny and beautiful, birds chirping, flowers and leaves swaying in a light breeze - the works.

For Ally however, the day started in a rather unusual fashion. She woke up, gradually feeling the sunlight hitting her eyelids and letting herself slowly be pulled back into consciousness bit by bit, taking in little details at a time until she was fully aware of her surroundings.

Ally was pressed firmly up against Austin's chest, his arm around her waist, pulling her impossibly closer to him, his nose nuzzled into her hair and his breathing slow and heavy.

None of which was particularly unusual. What caught Ally's attention was the rather hard _something_ which was pressing into her lower back. With a squeak which woke Austin she realised exactly what it was, making a bad situation into a rather awful one, and giving an interesting start to the day.

So now, Ally was sitting outside of the bathroom, waiting for Austin to finish up so that she could apologise, so that she could tell him it was perfectly normal (something which she had no doubt he already knew), that she wasn't going to take it personally, and that all was well.

Unfortunately, when Austin opened the bathroom door wearing nothing but a towel wrapped rather loosely around his hips, his hands raised to dry his hair with another towel, Ally's mouth went a little dry and the speech she'd been rehearsing conveniently left her brain, instead leaving her with short strings of sentences which made no sense but came together to basically mean:

 _Holy shit._

Austin smirked a little at Ally's slightly open mouth and her complete lack of subtlety in running her eyes up and down his torso.

"Alright there, Als?"

"Hm? Oh, uh, absolutely. Completely yes. Great. Fantastic even. Um. I was just. Well I was going to say sorry about this morning and everything. You know. Totally normal, not taking it personally and all that. Um. Yeah."

"You sure you're okay? You sound a little off." Austin remarked, throwing his extra towel onto the bed and pushing his arms above his head in the way he knew for a fact made his arms look fantastic and his ab muscles stand out. Ally's mouth dropped open a little more before she abruptly closed it, taking a few seconds before she answered.

"Yep. Fine. Shower time for me."

"Maybe go a cold one?"

Ally froze with her back to him for a second, turning around and fixing her sharpest glare on him (but with a slight tilt to her lips which let Austin know she was glad he'd broken the tension) before regaining her regular confident walk (with a slightly emphasised swing in her hips), and flipping Austin off on her way.

They had the day to themselves. Just Austin and Ally and all of Texas to explore. Well, not really all of Texas - Mimi had made them promise they wouldn't get too far from home and that they'd be back in time for dinner, but still.

A whole day to be Austin and Ally without pressure of eyes watching and judging and having to pretend to be something they weren't.

Austin had planned the day out, and he was ready to impress. Ready to maybe try to show Ally that they could be something more, and still be them. To show her that they were Austin and Ally but that he maybe wouldn't mind them becoming AustinandAlly. He'd kept his lips firmly sealed on the subject of where he was taking her, but he was hoping she would love it. And if she did, then that would be just another part of what made him love her.

To say Ally was looking forward to it was an understatement. To say she was bouncing off the walls was probably still a slight understatement, but something substantially closer to the truth.

Austin refused to tell her where they were going, telling her to put on something comfortable and meet him in the truck. When he walked outside she was sitting in the passenger seat, nearly squealing and bouncing out of her seat, her eyes trained sharply on his every move. He was wearing comfortable clothes himself, and was carrying - what? A picnic basket?

He threw it into the bed of the truck (with the carefree ridiculousness that only Austin could pull off without making you want to murder him for being so careless), and hopped into the driver's seat, turning on the truck and beginning to back them out of the driveway without more than a breezy "Hey." to Ally.

Ally lasted as far as the main road (so approximately 100 metres) before she caved and asked him (for the millionth time) where they were going.

Her response was a pointed glance and a marked change of subject, but it was accompanied by a fond smile. The kind of smile that Ally thought maybe Austin reserved only for her.

They reached an open field, one of many that they'd passed and Austin pulled in, parking the car and finally turning to face Ally. He looked, well, he looked a little nervous, to be honest.

Ally put her hand reassuringly over his and Austin took a deep breath. She had to love it. She would. But- no, stop worrying. She would.

"So here we are."

"And here would be where exactly?"

Ally Dawons, ever the smartass. "I used to come here a lot when I was a kid. Dad and I built a treehouse up the top there, and I'd come here whenever things got too much, or whenever I wanted to get away from the house, or try my hand at songwriting yet again. It's kind of my special place I guess."

Ally's eyes softened at every word, her heart bursting for the beautiful boy in front of her.

"Ever come up with anything good? Song-wise, I mean?"

"Nah. Never got the hang of it until I met you."

Ally's heart shattered into a million pieces. And then Austin smiled a little nervously at her and every piece came back together again, and in a better arrangement, pieces she hadn't even realised were missing finding their places and making her feel… whole.

She was in _way_ too deep.

Austin watched Ally's face carefully, trying to gauge her reaction. It looked as if she was going through a fair few emotions, a lot of them new to him and passing too quickly for him to place, but a soft smile settled on her face and she leaned in to give him a soft kiss on the cheek, a whisper of a kiss, easy to miss but wonderful when noticed.

Austin relaxed, pulling himself and the picnic basket out of the truck, watching as Ally bounced down, walking behind him as he made his way to the tree.

They climbed up, making their way to the very top, only to find-

An utterly chaotic mess of childhood debris.

There were crumpled up papers, toy figurines, a superman cape in the corner, a record player with too many vinyls stacked haphazardly beside it. There were posters plastered on the walls and toys strewn on the floor.

And yet somehow… she loved it.

She wanted to find out the story behind each of the figurines, which ones were his favourites, which ones he wanted to be, which ones were the ultimate villains.

She wanted to make him dress up in the cape and tell her all the stories about it and give him endless shit about it. She wanted to end up wearing it for the rest of the day and having him watch her with those fond eyes.

She wanted to uncrumple the papers and see what he'd written on them, see what went through the mind of a reasonably uncomplicated boy who hadn't experienced love and who hadn't known how to say the things on his mind.

She wanted to go through his vinyl collection and see how his taste had matured and to see where it had grown from. She wanted to pester him about finding someone like The Backstreet Boys or a soundtrack from some cheesy childhood TV show.

Austin watched Ally as she took it all in, and this time (to his delight) he could read every single thing on her face.

"What do you think?"

"Austin. I love it. Thank you for bringing me here."

"Well. No problem."

Ally walked around carefully, picking her way through his things and Austin watched. After a while of silence as she looked at the posters on the walls, she asked "How many people have you brought up here?"

Austin scratched at the back of his neck, feeling his feet begin to fidget a little. He'd, probably naively, hoped that this wouldn't come up.

"Um. I mean."

Ally paused and switched her attention over to him. He sighed.

"I mean you would be the first."

God. She was a goner.

A soft look passed over Ally's face, the kind that Austin sort of thought, and definitely hoped, were reserved just for him.

They passed the day in a haze of chocolate covered strawberries and soft drink in plastic cups and chicken sandwiches. Austin told her stories about his childhood and Ally listened, her rapt attention on him the whole time. Ally discovered everything she'd wanted to know and more, and she repaid him with endless stories of her own. They joked and teased and talked and laughed and relived the days of sticky hands and wide eyed-wonder. Of easily scraped knees and even more easily scraped hearts and of endless dreaming.

They made it home in time for dinner, and when Mimi opened the door, it was to a glowing pair of teenagers, the day still fresh in their minds and being endlessly picked apart and relived by each.

Because they'd shared the beginnings which had led them to each other. And they had each, unbeknownst to the other, fallen just a little more in love.

* * *

 _ **Apologies yet again about how long it took, but hopefully you liked it!**_

 _ **Reviews and favourites, etc. never fail to make me smile so thankyou to everyone who has, and pretty please leave me a review if you liked it.**_

 _ **All the love, have a phenomenal day/week. :) x**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hi everyone! So, here's the next chapter! Apologies it took me a little while (once again) I was actually away on holiday and all that, but again it's a pretty long one so hopefully that makes up for it.**_

 _ **I obviously own nothing, and hopefully you like it! Have a relax and a read and a (hopefully) good time.**_

* * *

The next day passes in a blur of shopping in town, of trying things on, of being whisked from place to place, of oohing and aahing, of sweatily linked hands and hasty kisses, of ice-cream sticky fingers, of snippets of singing and laughter, of happy smiles and easily leaning into one another. Tonight is the town gala and Austin's entire family are going.

Turns out this is the reason they'd been brought down for the weekend. Austin hadn't told Ally much about it other than to bring a formal dress. So she had.

As soon as they returned to the house from town Austin and Ally were once again whisked away from each other in a manner vaguely reminiscent of a bride and groom before the big day. They parted with their quickest kiss yet, just a dry brush of the lips which left Ally wanting more.

She sighed slightly to herself and turned her attention to the hoard of females surrounding her. She took in Mimi's gentle smile, Cara's (Austin's aunt) laughing eyes and the cousins bouncy happiness and steeled herself for an afternoon of a little more company than she was used to, more people than she was really ready for. She found herself wishing for the warm safety of Austin's arm around her waist. Not forceful, just letting her know he was there, he was beside her every step of the way.

Ally was able to talk to people, really she was. But she was better at it with Austin. By herself, Ally's shyness came through a little, her introverted nature all too plain to see. Put her next to Austin and they became a dream team, Ally mellowing out Austin's occasionally overwhelming enthusiasm, and Austin drawing Ally out of her shell without her even realising it.

So, this afternoon, around a bunch of girls (Ally was not the best at interacting with girls, she sometimes found them a little too shrill and demanding, hence the lack of female presence, except for Trish of course, in her friendships), without Austin could be tough. But Ally was ready. She could do this.

The cousins began tugging her towards one of the bedrooms and Oh God, Ally could not do this. She dug her heels into the ground briefly, offering a sheepish smile.

"I, uh, bathroom?"

"Of course, dear. You know where it is. We'll meet you in Cara's bedroom and we can begin getting you ready for tonight all right? We'll just give the young ones something to occupy themselves with and then we'll meet you in there, okay?" Mimi's gentle and understanding voice cut through Ally's worries. She visibly relaxed, her tight muscles softening slightly as some of her tension left her.

"Okay. Great. I'll just be a minute."

Ally wandered off, heading in the direction that she'd seen Austin disappear into. She wasn't particularly paying attention, humming a new idea for a song to herself, letting herself relax with the lack of human company around her. Maybe all she'd needed was a second to herself. She continued, still humming, just rounding a corner when-

Ally collided into a warm and rather broad chest. Rubbing her head slightly, she glanced up at the person, only to find Austin smiling down at her.

Without her even realising it, Ally relaxed completely, her face softening, giving an easy and subconscious smile to Austin as she gazed up at him.

"Hey." she said quietly.

"Hey yourself."

"So. Fancy meeting you here."

"Crazy coincidence right? Careful though, I keep seeing you around. I might begin to think you're stalking me."

Ally put a mockingly offended hand to her heart.

"Me? But I am merely a harmless, innocent, guileless-"

"You gonna keep going with the adjectives?"

"-bashful, naive, positively mild, young girl, sir."

Austin sighed at her, his arms coming to cross over his chest as he lent against the wall, smiling fondly down at her.

"You alright?"

Ally glanced down at her hands before turning her face back towards Austin.

The thing was that she was alright all of a sudden. She was completely and one hundred percent alright. Maybe what had been bothering her was the lack of proper goodbye to Austin. She had no idea, but she was loose-limbed and happy, ready for anything.

"Yeah, actually. I am. Absolutely fine."

Austin smiled at her, he was doing a lot of that. Smiling.

"Good."

"Good."

They paused, both supposed to be somewhere else, but each unwilling to cut the conversation short.

"Alright. Well we should probably get back."

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"Okay."

They smiled at each other, and honestly, what was this, the smiling Olympics? What was happening to her face?

They looked at each other for a second, until, maybe out of habit, maybe just because she wanted to (so sue her), Ally swayed up onto her tiptoes, and pressed her lips to Austin's. It started out soft, just a chaste goodbye kiss.

Until.

Until Austin started responding with remarkably more vigour than he had in any of their previous kisses. Their lips moving in synchronisation, his pushing at hers insistently until she opened her mouth for him. He nipped at her lips, making her gasp just slightly. Maybe in retaliation (okay, definitely in retaliation), Ally pushed her hands up from where they were sitting lightly on Austin's chest, and into his hair, pulling lightly on it in the way she was hoping would make him a little breathless.

It definitely worked, judging by the way Austin moaned (actually moaned, and holy shit, _Ally_ did that), softly into her mouth.

After a few more seconds of what Ally would describe as pretty much perfection (seriously, Austin had serious skills), they pulled apart from one another, staring wide eyed. Ally couldn't help but notice the way that Austin's hair was just slightly messy from her pushing her hands through it, and paired with his slightly swollen lips and dark eyes, it was all she could do not to pounce on him again.

Kissing Austin was brilliant. Ally felt this spark that she had never felt before, and while she was tempted to put it down to how familiar they were with one another (never let it be said that Ally Dawson was not, at heart, a cynicist), she couldn't stop herself from hoping that he felt it too. Hoping that Austin enjoyed kissing Ally as much as she enjoyed kissing him. Hoping that despite the fact that she wasn't tall or blonde or a bouncy cheerleader, that Austin maybe, just maybe, felt a tiny sliver of the attraction (and okay, maybe like _love_ ), that Ally felt for him.

And from the way that he was alternating between looking at her lips darkly, and softly looking up to her eyes, she was beginning to (probably dangerously, her cynical side was telling her), think that maybe he might.

Their heavy breathing had been filling the silence for a couple of seconds, Ally's thoughts filling her head, before confusion clouded Austin's features.

"What was that for?"

Ally froze. Shit. As much as she'd enjoyed that (and hopefully, possibly, maybe, Austin had too), she had no reason for launching herself at him. She debated with herself - tell the truth, tell him she saw someone; tell the truth, tell him she saw someone; tell the truth…

"Um. I thought I saw someone passing by. You know." she said, with as much of a casual tone in her voice as she could muster.

Ally gulped. Austin turned to look down the hall, frowning just a little, putting a tiny slash in between his eyebrows.

"I didn't hear anything."

"Must have been shadows. Silly me. Anyway, gotta go, see you tonight, bye." Ally winced at how her voice had raised an octave and the bright quickness trill of it. All so _not_ her. She turned on her heel and began walking away, raising a quick hand in a wave behind her.

"Right. Bye then."

Ally didn't turn to see his face.

The rest of the afternoon was… actually surprisingly good. Ally bantered (as much as you can with your fake boyfriend/possibly love of your life's mother and aunt), with Cara and Mimi, and let them flit around her, doing her makeup and hair and asking about her dress and about Austin, Ally answering questions easily, totally winning at this.

Before she knew it, she was done, and she'd barely even looked at herself in the mirror, Mimi and Cara's telling her to wait until she had the dress on less of a deterrent than the fact that she'd been facing Mimi pretty much the whole time.

She left, meandering easily down to the room she shared with Austin, noticing that the tuxedo he'd left hanging on the hook behind the door was gone. She must have just missed him then.

Singing to herself quietly, Ally pulled the dress over her head and zipped it up, finally letting herself look in the mirror.

And woah. She actually didn't look half bad.

She spritzed perfume and fumbled around, playing on her laptop and whiling away the time until she had to meet everyone downstairs.

* * *

Of course Ally would be the last one to arrive downstairs. Actually not really, Austin was a little surprised - Ally was usually an exceptionally punctual (really chronically early, but she liked to think of it as punctual) person. She must have lost track of time, he decided.

He was less surprised when she appeared at the top of the stairs, fumbled apologies leaving her lips, one after the other without much room for breath as she pulled her last shoe on.

And then she straightened. And Austin forgot how to breathe.

Ally was wearing a navy blue dress, not too long (he could still see her calves, just a subtle reminder of how much he wanted to see the rest of her legs), but not too short. The blue made the milky porcelain of her skin oh-so-dramatic, and Austin was struggling to dispel the idea of running his hands (and/or mouth) all over. The dress was hugging her top half beautifully before the chiffon fell from her waist, and long story short, that dress was made for her, and she looked like every single one of Austin's fantasies, rolled into one.

And her face. She'd gone for subtle, her eyes played up, huge, brown, and boring into his. Her hair loose (just the way he liked it) and falling in waves down her back.

It was going to be a long night.

Austin coughed slightly, as his lungs remembered that they needed oxygen. His looked up at Ally, still a little wide-eyed, he had no doubt, and managed an incredibly smooth:

"You look…" _like everything I've ever wanted._ "… great."

She smiled down at him, not as underwhelmed by his compliment as she probably should have been considering she looked like something God had dreamed up to torture humans (or maybe just to torture Austin specifically). Maybe she could read something in his face, about how fantastic she looked, about how he couldn't put it into words, about how anything he said wouldn't compare, wouldn't be even close to enough.

A soft thanks and a gentle kiss on the cheek was her response. And then that smile, which he was beginning to really believe was just for him. And god, as she leaned in he could still smell her, even with make up and some perfume (which was nice but not as nice as Ally's normal smell), he could still smell Ally - old books and strawberries and vanilla.

It really was going to be a long night.

* * *

 ** _Well there it is, beautiful people. I adore each and every one of your reviews, you never fail to make me smile and brighten up my day._**

 ** _All the love, have a fantastic weekend, and I shall endeavour to get the next chapter up within the week._**

 ** _Pretty please leave me a review, or if you have a question PM me, or favourite or follow. Whatever floats your boat. All the love. x_**


	14. Chapter 14

_**Hey All. I'm sorry I've been such a poo not updating for ages. Here's the next chapter though, hopefully you all like it!**_

 ** _Obviously_** _ **I own nothing. Love you all :) Enjoy!**_

* * *

The majority of the night passed in a bit of a blur for Ally. She was tugged around by Austin to meet various neighbours and family friends and tried her best to stifle her laughter as he had his hair tugged and cheeks pinched and wonderments were repeated all round at how quickly he'd grown up, and into _such a handsome young man!_

And if Austin kept her a little closer than was strictly necessary, if his eyes were a little darker than usual, then Ally told herself it was because of the buzz of the champagne and had nothing to do with her appearance and their kiss earlier.

Or at least she did for as long as she could, because Ally was nothing if not a pragmatist, and there was no way she was letting herself get her hopes up only to be shot down. But then, it was almost as if - and Ally was reluctant to say this, or to assume anything - but it was almost as if Austin had been… jealous?

It had all been fairly innocent, she'd been laughing with one of Austin's family friends - a Dallas-look-a-like who was about Ally's own age, in one of the few moments she wasn't gluing herself and letting herself be glued to Austin's side. Dallas 2.0 had been charming and sweet and she was buzzing on champagne and when he asked her to dance she hadn't hesitated to say yes, letting him pull her to the dance floor. It was all innocent (okay, maybe he was flirting, but Ally's heart was taken, and it was always nice to be _wanted,_ especially without all the worry and complication that had been haunting the last couple of days with Austin), but she hadn't missed the way Austin's eyes had searched around before settling on the two of them.

She also hadn't missed the way his eyes had narrowed and his stance had gotten a little more tense, his hands closing into loose fists, looking- well, looking a bit ready to attack, really.

But she shook even that off - Ally wasn't prone to thinking of herself as particularly desirable and she found it hard to imagine that Austin was reacting this way because of _her_.

But when Dallas 2.0's (Tom's) hand drifted a little farther down her waist, settling closer to the curve of her bum, she couldn't deny, couldn't reason her way out of Austin's hands tightening into proper fists and the way he stalked (like actually, full out _stalked)_ over to them.

"Can I cut in?" his voice was a little less than pleasant - a light veneer of charming over the top of thinly veiled anger. Ally attempted to extricate herself from Tom's grasp - she knew that tone and Austin wasn't kidding around.

"I think we're good actually." Dallas 2.0 smirked at Austin, refusing to let Ally disentangle herself. And Ally was a little worried, to say the least - Austin didn't get like this very often, but when he did, the worst possible thing to do was to rile him up further.

"Maybe you should reconsider given that's my girlfriend you're dancing with," all charm gone, Austin essentially snarled at him, stepping a little closer, just inside Dallas 2.0's personal space.

"Really? Isn't she a bit… out of your league mate? You're punching alright."

"I'm gonna be punching something else pretty soon if you don't get your hands the fuck off my girlfriend."

"Okay guys. Cool off alright. Tom, this is my boyfriend Austin. Austin, this is Tom, a friend who I was having a friendly dance with in a purely platonic manner. Need me to put friend in there a couple more times, just so we're all clear? Or have we got the message? Tom, I think our dance is over, thanks." Ally said, perhaps a little perfunctorily, but really what was with boys and their testosterone? She was perfectly in control of herself and she didn't need anyone coming around to be her knight in shining armour. The damsel in distress act was _not_ her thing.

Then again, she sincerely doubted Austin had been joking about punching something else pretty soon.

"Alright, alright. Maybe another time. See you later, Ally-gator." A smooth smile found it's way onto Dallas 2.0's face as he let Ally go. Ally immediately put a soothing arm onto Austin's as he bristled at the nickname, stepping closer and putting her arms around his shoulders. She began to sway to the music, leaving him no choice but to follow her movements.

"Fuck. Now I'm gonna have to find something else to call you."

"You barely ever called me Ally-gator anyway." They swayed in silence for a little, Ally resting her head on Austin's chest and she felt the tension begin to slip from his body. She waited until it was almost all gone before she pulled her head off his chest, raising her perfect eyebrows at him, with a rather unimpressed look on her face.

Austin, to his credit, lasted longer than most would under her stare, but eventually gave in. He knew exactly what she was annoyed about and he couldn't really defend himself. He knew Ally didn't need his protection, and he knew that barging in was rude of him. He knew all that. He'd even known before hand that he'd have an angry Ally afterwards. But that still hadn't stopped him. He let out a small sigh (a marked difference from the put-upon one he'd wanted to go for, but he had a feeling if he had have then Ally might have stomped on his toes, his heart, and walked away without looking back).

"Sorry."

Ally softened immediately. "I know. And I know you didn't mean anything by it. But I'm not some damsel in distress you need to protect you know. I'm never going to do anything I'm uncomfortable with and I'm in control of the situation, even if you don't immediately realise it.:

"I know. It's just you look so great tonight, like _really_ great, and I'm just… Will you believe me if I tell you I really couldn't help it, and that I'm incredibly sorry for underestimating you and being rude?" he asked, turning his best puppy eyes onto her.

Ally nestled her head back into his chest, chuckling a little. "Yeah. If it was anyone else but you, I would have ripped their head off you know. Feminism and all that."

"I know."

They swayed a little longer until Austin pulled away slightly, looking down at Ally.

"You know I think this is one of the first dances we've had together."

Ally snorted. "Except for the disaster around Trish's quinceañera."

"Yeah, except for that. Ally Dawson, may I have this dance?" he asked, bowing to the ground with his hand in front of him.

Ally giggled and curtsied (actually giggled and curtsied, ugh what was she _doing_?), placing her hand into Austin's where he couldn't help but marvel at the size difference.

Austin placed his hand respectfully onto Ally's waist, and pulled her close once again, this time into a proper waltz position. She looked at him doubtfully.

"I'm afraid to say I still do kind of have two left feet."

"Good point."

She wound her arms around his neck and he let his drop a little further to rest on her hips, and that's how they passed the rest of the night. Pressed tightly against one another, like puzzle pieces fitting together, and swaying gently together to the soft, whispering backing track of love songs.

* * *

 ** _There it is, darlings. I adore each and every one of your reviews, you always make me smile._**

 ** _All the love, have a fantastic rest of the week!_**

 ** _Pretty please leave me a review, or if you have a question PM me, or favourite or follow. Whatever floats your boat. All the love. x_**


	15. Chapter 15

_**And yet again, I suck at updating. Sorry, school's kicking my ass at the moment, and I've been struggling to find the time and motivation to write.**_

 _ **Apologies though, and I'm on holiday at the moment, so I'll try to get a lot written while I'm off.**_

 _ **Anyway, here's the next chapter, hopefully you like it and don't want to kill me for taking so long :). Obviously I own nothing and all that. Enjoy!**_

* * *

Their giggles pierced the quiet night as they leaned against each other, tiptoeing and stumbling their way to Austin's treehouse. The rest of the gala had passed in a blur of love songs and slightly too much champagne, the bubbles fizzing through their blood, making everything brighter, more exciting, more enchanting.

The other thing about the champagne is that it was lighting Ally up seemingly from the inside out, she was glowing as if it took no effort at all to light up the world around her, as if she couldn't even help it.

Austin was having a hard time stopping himself from reaching out to find out what moonlight felt like, because that's what Ally seemed to be made up of - of moonbeams and shy smiles and soft edges and whispers. She was delicate and precious and everything Austin had ever wanted. And right now he wanted to _touch_ , possibly more than he'd wanted anything else in his life.

He didn't just want to touch though. He wanted to smell and kiss and cuddle. He wanted to watch and laugh and sing. He wanted sunsets back in Miami, he wanted cloud-watching in Texas, he wanted Ally beside him, every moment of every day for the rest of his life.

And with the champagne fizzling through his bloodstream, with Ally open and pliant against him, he wanted to kiss her until she forgot herself, until she forgot the place and the things they had planned for tomorrow, and how the week was coming to a close, and work and school and books and everything about the world except his name. Until she was loose-limbed and gazing up at him.

He had a feeling kissing Ally senseless could be a big move though. Even though his thoughts were more sluggish than usual, he knew he could regret that in the morning.

So Austin metaphorically sat on his hands and attempted to stop the itch to touch and instead just watched her. Watched her in her gorgeous dress, her hair falling in waves, a little tangled and windswept. He watched the flush in her cheeks and the glitter of her eyes.

And with all of his watching, he didn't even notice where he was until they made it to the top of the treehouse. And then they sat. And just, kind of, looked at each other.

* * *

Ally was struggling a little. She was struggling because she wanted nothing more than to reach out and smooth her hands along Austin's broad shoulders, to explore all the dips and ridges and smoothness of his skin, wanted to map out every inch. She wanted him to suck bruises into her neck (something she'd never been interested in before) until she was stupid from it, and so that the world knew she was his and he was hers.

And with the alcohol making it's way through her system, Ally was struggling, because while she almost always wanted to kiss Austin, and touch and learn and love, the feeling was more than a little stronger tonight.

And God, did he look good in that tux. It sat across his shoulders, and the black and white were accentuating the tan of his skin, the blond of his hair, the brown of his eyes. The pink of his lips. The red of his tongue as it swept out every now and then, not that she was watching that closely.

But Ally couldn't do that, she couldn't touch and lick and learn, and she was still more than in control of her mental faculties, so instead she pulled a giggling and useless and decidedly more drunk Austin along, wheedling and stumbling and laughing and tugging until they made it to the top of his treehouse.

She sat on the floor and Austin sat opposite her. Neither of them said anything. Instead, they simply watched.

It was Ally who broke the silence, clearing her throat.

"So."

"So."

"Big night."

"Yeah. You know I don't know if I told you this already but um. You look really, really, really, really," he was slurring his words. "Really good tonight."

She giggled a little. Drunk Austin was the best. "Thanks, Austin. You look… great, too."

God she was articulate. And here Ally had been, priding herself on her eloquence and ability to speak clearly. Instead she was reduced to 'great'. What was happening to her?

Austin, meanwhile, lit up like a goddamn christmas tree at the compliment, Ally somewhat smirking at him from under her eyelashes.

"Thanks." he breathed after a beat too long.

"Ally? Can I tell you something?"

"Of course."

"I think I'm in love."

Ally's breath caught in her throat. Suddenly she felt stone cold sober, and very very cold.

"Really?" Her voice came out tinny and sad even to her own ears. She prayed Austin wouldn't notice. "With who?"

He seemed not to, rolling onto his back and poking her side until she lay down beside him.

He sighed. "I can't say."

And why the hell couldn't he say, what the actual _fuck_. He'd dropped a bomb like that and was just going to let it sit there? What the hell? Unless… Oh no. Unless it was one of her friends. Unless he didn't want to hurt her feelings, or for her to spill the beans before her was ready. Oh God. She'd been getting closer with Kira, and Cassidy too since she'd moved back.

Shit. Unfinished romances that were apparently very much back on track.

She gulped, trying not to let the hurt shine through her words. She was pretty sure she was doing an incredibly shitty job of pretending to be fine, but she was all pretty sure that Austin was more than a little caught up in his own world and in the alcohol to notice.

"Right. Well, what's she like?"

Austin sighed yet again and hummed as he seemingly turned the question over. He shifted a little closer into her side, his elbow brushing against her arm and their legs pressed gently together.

"She's… She's everything I ever dreamed of, but better. She's nothing like anyone else I've ever met before you know? She just, like, gets me. And she's the most beautiful girl in the world, and I never even noticed it because I was, like blind or something. But she's got these massive, gorgeous eyes, and the most beautiful hair and skin and legs and everything, and the best part is that she has no idea. Like she's sexy and sweet and innocent all at the same time and she drives me crazy. But she's so kind as well you know? And so smart, and funny even though she does't think so and she just cares about everyone. And she just makes the world brighter by being there you know? I think she's made of moonlight or something, because she just _shines._ And she's one of the best people I know, and she makes me want to be better too. I mean, so I can, like, deserve her I guess."

And with each sentence, Ally's heart shattered just a tiny bit more, her breathing beginning to get a little uneven as she blinked away the beginnings of tears and pretended that there were splinters of her heart embedded deep within the rest of her body. Because Austin was in love, that much was obvious.

And it wasn't with her.

They lay there for a little while, Ally listening for the sound of Austin's breathing as it got deeper and more relaxed, and trying (and failing) to think of an answer.

As the sky began to lighten she pulled herself up into a sitting position again, giving herself a minute, just a minute, to watch Austin. His face was open and beautiful like this, relaxed and younger than she'd seen him looking in years. She ran a hand through his hair, a faint, slightly broken smile, making it's way onto her face as he turned into her touch with a sleepy sigh.

She woke him up with a decidedly less gentle prod to his stomach, watching as he blearily rubbed his eyes and took in their surroundings.

"Morning." A smile broke out on his face and he was magnetic. Ally looked away.

"Morning."

Austin frowned a little, but didn't push, instead standing up and brushing himself off, before offering a hand and pulling Ally up beside him.

They made their way back, undoubtedly about to face expectant and suspicious adults at Austin's house, and Ally just tried to breathe. She pretended that her breath didn't catch a little each time their arms brushed, and that she didn't have to breathe around a lump in her throat, and that her heart hadn't sunk into the bottom of her shoes, leaving shards and splinters and devastation on its way down.

As they walked back to the house, Ally breathed and tried to pretend that she was whole.

* * *

 ** _So there it is! Thank you for making me smile with your beautiful reviews and comments, you're beautiful, beautiful people._**

 ** _And thanks for readings, you're absolute gems. Have a fantastic rest of the week!_**

 _ **Reviews make me incredibly happy, so pretty please leave one (favourites and follows are always massively appreciated as well, just so you know). If you have any questions or whatever don't hesitate to ask :) All the love. x**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**Hey everyone! So here it is, the next chapter! Who even am I, I don't think it's been even a week since the last update. Woohoo! All time PB. I thought I'd attempt to get a couple in over the break as an apology for making you wait so long and also as an apology in advance since it could be another dry season coming up in terms of me updating. Sorry!**_

 _ **Anyway, I don't own anything obviously. Hopefully you like it! Enjoy! :)**_

* * *

It had been four days.

Only four days of something which should have been pretty easy, a bit of a no brainer - a few meaningless kisses, some sweaty hand-holding and nervous glances, joking and laughing and back to their normal selves at night.

It shouldn't have been this _hard_.

But when Ally woke up, golden sunshine on the back of her lids, feeling cozy and safe and maybe just slightly too hot, it was to the comforting weight of an arm draped over her waist, a nose nuzzled into her hair. Austin almost clung to Ally when he slept, faintly reminiscent of a baby koala, but the thing was, Ally clung to Austin in her everyday life.

And she was struggling her way through, because Ally was beginning to feel as if she needed Austin, needed him as much as the air she breathed, feeling like he was… her parachute. Actually, that was pretty good.

She swung out of bed a little more quickly than usual, dashing to grab her songbook and a pencil, trying not to think of the reason why she was suddenly so inspired, why she suddenly had a deep need to get her thoughts out and onto paper.

She glanced over her shoulder to find Austin blinking blearily at her and gave him soft smile before treading quietly down the hallway on sock-clad feet, letting herself out of the front door and making her way over to the big oak tree in front of the Moon's estate which had caught her eye since day one.

* * *

It wasn't until hours later that Austin found her like that, hunched over her song book, breeze lightly ruffling the tendrils of hair that were making their way out of a hastily tied bun. A lightly bitten pencil between pink, pink lips, everything about her screaming concentration and softness, the two at odds with each other - Ally's eyes bleary and dazed when she finally looked up at him, her soft cotton pyjamas and her sleep-mussed hair, all at odds with the tension of her body, the sharp way that she hunched in over her book, and the rough scratching of pencil against paper. She'd always been one to press down too heavily.

A smile stretched its way over Austin's face. This was what he wanted. He wanted to be the one who knew things about Ally that no one else did. He wanted to wake up and find her beside him, wanted to watch as she slipped out to be among nature, the way she liked when she was song-writing outside of the busy mall in Miami.

Austin wanted to be on the receiving end of the smile that was sent his way for the rest of the life. Wanted to continue to be the reason for the tension draining from her posture, wanted to watch her open up for him every minute of his life.

"Hi." And what the hell was his voice doing? God, could he be anymore obvious? What a way to make fond _ooze_ from your tone, Austin. Nice one.

She blinked beautifully up at him. Her brow remaining furrowed for a second before it cleared as she looked up at him.

"Hey," was his soft reply. Well, a _hey_ and a soft smile, the ones she reserved for him.

God, the affection was bubbling out of his goddamn chest. Maybe he just shouldn't be allowed to see Ally in her pyjamas in the mornings like this. Or at nights. Or in the afternoons. Or in any other part of the day. What? She was pretty great, could anyone really blame him?

"I'm in love with you." He whispered.

Looking back later, at the problems that it caused, he was a bit of an idiot. He could have been a lot smoother, or a lot more obvious, or a lot more confident instead of expecting to be shot-down immediately. He could have restrained himself and sat her down instead of springing something like this on her at a moment's notice.

Looking back later, he also realised that it had been pretty inevitable. Since their tickle fight on day one, Austin should have known what was going to happen. That he would, inevitably, fall head over high-tops in love with a girl with wide, brown eyes and soft ivory skin. His very own Snow White. So it had only been a matter of time before he'd be in too deep, and from there only an even shorter matter of time before he'd inevitably let it slip out. He'd never been great at keeping his mouth shut.

Still, things could have gone a little more smoothly.

While the wind had been blowing probably enough to cover his words, it was just his luck that it died down right as those five little words slipped out of his mouth. Ally's eyes widened, her mouth slipping open slightly.

Oh, shit.

Well. So, that had just happened. Time to commence his life as a hermit. Maybe he could use his treehouse, convince his family to bring him supplies and food every now and then. Ally and he were due to leave pretty soon anyway, and she had things to get back to so there's no way she'd miss her flight. He could definitely do that. Outlast her until she was gone at least, and then commence Operation Put Austin Back Together Again. He felt a bit like Humpty Dumpty.

And, like Humpty Dumpty, right now he was pretty sure that all the king's horses and all the king's men, still wouldn't be able to help.

While she stared at him in outright shock, he finished off the plans in his head. Yeah, treehouse was looking pretty good.

It had been a full minute of silence since his accidental proclamation.

Waiting another thirty seconds and awkwardly shifting on his feet, Austin watched as Ally's face (finally!) began to go through different emotions. First there was her shock, moving onto what looked suspiciously like flat disbelief. Then there was a flush, high in her cheeks as she ducked her head down. A critical quirk of the eyebrow as she met his gaze again, almost calculating. And then a dropping down of the head again, accompanied by a little head-shake, almost looking like it wasn't even for him.

Still, a head-shake. Well. That was that then.

With a small cough and a "Right." Austin turned. Beginning to make his way back to the house.

"Wait, Austin, no-" He could hear her scrambling to her feet and beginning to come after him, and, yep, there was her small hand on his upper arm.

"It's fine, Ally. Don't worry about it, I get it. You don't feel the same way and that's fine, I won't bring it up again."

"No, Austin. You don't understand, I-"

"I do, Ally. I get it. And it's fine. Yes, we can still be friends. It'll all go back to normal."

A mildly uncertain head-shake was his reply.

He cut her off as she was opening her mouth, looking down at his shoes.

"It's fine. Really. I'm just going to-. I think I need to be alone for a while."

"Austin-"

"Please, Ally." And had it not been for the smallness of his voice, he thought she might have tried to hold on and make things right.

But he wasn't going to _make_ Ally fall in love with him. Or worse, have her pretend she was. He would be fine. He just needed some time, was all.

And so, with that he walked off, leaving a very dazed and confused Ally in his wake.

* * *

 _ **So there it is/was! Thankyou for the reviews and all that you beautiful people, you unfailingly make my day.**_

 _ **Thanks for reading, darlings. Have a fantastic rest of the week!**_

 _ **Review make me smile so pretty please leave one :) If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. All the love. x**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Hey all. I'm so incredibly sorry, I know it's taken me an incredibly long time to finish this, especially considering I had barely anything to go and I did leave y'all on a bit of a cliff-hanger there. Oops. I kind of lost inspiration/motivation for writing this story, I think it'll be the last one for this fandom, but I've had a blast and thank you all for reading etc.**_

 _ **Anyway, I don't own anything obviously, hope you enjoy it and all that! Ta da!**_

* * *

Ally was an absolute idiot.

The boy of who brightened her days and nights, the boy of her _dreams_ had just confessed his love for her, and what did she do?

Nothing.

Having said, well, literally _anything_ would probably have been better.

The thing was, Ally wasn't actually sure that she wasn't hearing things. The idea that Austin Moon, overnight internet sensation turned full on popstar, funny, cute, hot as hell, could get any girl in the world, Austin Moon in love with Ally Dawson?

It seemed unlikely.

But her mind couldn't help turning back, picking through their interactions, what she'd heard early in the morning, noticing the way that his gaze had lingered, the unnecessary brushing of fingertips, little touches she wasn't even sure he was aware of.

She thought of what he'd said to her about the girl he was in love with, up in the treehouse, and she began to let herself think of just how great they could be together.

Ally took a deep breath, and began trudging toward the treehouse, collecting the scraps of her bravery with her as she went, hoping that she wasn't making a terrible, terrible mistake.

Austin was sitting in a heap on the edge, looking out over the property, slumped in a defeat that Ally hadn't seen on him before. It didn't suit him.

And how could she, when she had the power, had the _desire,_ to do something about it, how could she let the most beautiful boy in the world upset, even for a second? Maybe someone else would be able to leave him without a second thought, let him get over her and move on, knowing that whatever he was feeling would be temporary, but Ally wasn't that girl.

"Austin." her voice was no more than a soft murmur, and she watched as his body snapped to attention, holding a line of tension that Ally wanted to kiss and touch until it feel away.

"I'd kind of like to be alone right now."

Ally crawled closer, stopping just short of touching Austin. "I know. But the thing is, you didn't really stay long enough for me to figure things out, you know?" she could feel her voice climbing in speed and pitch as she powered through but she couldn't do much about it. She paused for a second, her voice getting softer and more timid. "You're… you're the best thing that's even happened to me, Austin. And losing you, I couldn't stand it, you know? I feel like I'd drown without you, like I'm just. I couldn't face that."

"Feeling's mutual. Which is why it's fine. We don't have to talk about it anymore, just leave me up here for a while. I'll get over it, it'll be fine." Ally flinched at the hurt that hid behind his indifferent tone.

"No. Austin. I love you too. How could I not?"

She paused long enough to hear his breath hitch before motoring on.

"You're amazing, you make me laugh and always know how to pull me out of my head. I love that the way you smirk and all of your blond moments. I love the way you tell terrible jokes and the way you look in the morning when we wake up in the practice room. I love that you bring me coffee without being asked and that you pull people in with this brightness that you don't even know you have. How could I not be in love with you?"

"But, you shook your head, and I mean, I waited, you didn't say anything."

"I know. You just took me by surprise. And I was thinking about losing you forever if we started this, and how many things could go wrong-"

But she didn't get further than that before a pair of soft lips were overtaking her own, punching her breath out in a soft exhale. It was a sweet kiss, soft and intimate, the sort that promised of things to come. It only lasted for a second before Austin pulled back, resting his forehead on hers, brown eyes looking into hazel.

"Hey. We'll figure it out. And you're not going to lose me, you couldn't if you tried."

A smile twitched at Ally's lips before she pulled him back in. It was messy and their mouths didn't fit together properly, more just grinning into each other than anything else, but it was also perfect.

* * *

Later, Austin's parents will notice a slight difference, but will brush off Ally's new relaxation and Austin's adoring glances as nothing more than a slight change of wind. They'll smile as the two kiss and hold hands and sneak touches when they think no one's looking. They'll think that Austin got lucky with Ally, that they're glad their son found a girl who looks at him like he hung the moon and stars, and that he found a girl who he can look at like she's a dazzling constellation in a person.

Later, Austin will carry Ally's bag despite her protests, will brush a kiss on her cheek as he puts it onto the conveyor belt at the airport. They'll hold hands in the seats from take off to landing, and will lean heads on shoulders with soft smiles.

Later, when they get home and tell their friends and Ally's family, everyone will wonder how it took the two so long, how they didn't notice the way their faces turned warm and soft around each other, didn't notice the chemistry and the potential between them.

And much later, Ally will sing the song she wrote for Austin under a tree in Texas, and Austin will pull her into a scorching but tender kiss as the last note leaves her lips.

Later, they'll be alright.

* * *

 _ **So there it is. Boom. The end. Pretty please leave me a review and tell me what you thought, of this chapter or of the story as a whole, they make me super smiley and happy.**_

 _ **Thank you all for reading and reminding me to update (no, really, I kind of forgot I had this for a while there), and for leaving favourites or follows or reviews, you make everything lovely.**_

 _ **Have a fantastic rest of your day/week/month/life. And thank you all for helping me find this fandom and get writing, etc. I may not be back, but I've loved it.**_

 _ **All the love. x**_


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